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Chapter Text

The scream that reverberated across the Boiling Isles was one of the worst sounds that Eda had never wanted to imagine.

The Owl Beast began to panic again, and time itself seemed to slow as Eda took in the scene before her.

The land was torn asunder in every direction and figures, many robed and armed, stood menacingly to the side, hesitating.

“Eda…” Raine was saying, but their voice barely registered any more than the other surrounding figures.

All Eda could see was a tiny form, shaggy grey with an exposed, horned skull, lying utterly still, covered in bluish blood.

Crouched above was another figure, face obscured, but hands covered in the same blood, cloaked in bright purple robes patterned half and half with a moon and stars motif.

Eda didn’t remember when she had shifted to harpy form, but she had halved the distance between them before she realized it, half running, half flying, the screaming still echoing, inescapable.

She felt her claws connect with their target…

***

…And Eda shot up in her nest, the screaming coming from her own throat.

She was nearly blinded by the bright sunlight streaming through her stained-glass window.

“Eda! EDA!”

She blinked wildly against the brightness, raising a hand - her only hand now - to block it from her face.

“EDA!”

As her bedroom loft returned to focus, Eda found herself looking down into the familiar face of the small, horned-skulled creature from her dream, this time very much alive and looking concerned, his claws resting on the edge of her nest.

“King.”

She reached down and picked him up, one-armed, wing drawing in to hold him close.

“You okay, Eda,” King asked from within the feathers.

Eda just made a strangled sound and hugged him as tightly as she could.

At one time, King would have probably protested, pushed away against such a display of outward affection. But things had changed and Eda had a sneaking suspicion that he needed this as much as she did.

There was the sound of rapidly-approaching footsteps and a slightly winded Raine Whispers burst through the door.

“Everything okay?” they demanded.

Eda looked almost surprised to see Raine there, but then she nearly always felt a bit of not-unpleasant surprise to find them still around. She still halfway expected to wake up one morning and discover that they had left again.

So far it hadn’t happened, but that didn’t stop Eda from being constantly on edge about it.

“Another nightmare, huh,” Raine said, sitting down on the edge of the nest and putting a firm hand on Eda’s shoulder.

“Eh, it happens,” Eda said, loosening her grip on King but not letting him go.

“Must’ve been a bad one,” Raine continued. “If it made you go all… this .”

They tapped one of the massive harpy wings.

“It’s bound to happen,” Eda said, taking a deep breath and letting herself relax back into her former shape, wings and claws melting away. “I’m a bit surprised, though. The Owl Beast and I haven’t exactly been seeing eye-to-eye lately.”

“You two have a fight?” King asked, making no attempt to move from Eda’s lap.

“It’s more like they’re a wild animal with some ingrained fears and instincts that I can’t reason away, and I have some ideas that go against their judgement.”

King squinted.

“You’re being preeetttyyy cryptic there, Eda,” he said.

“Don’t worry,” Eda tapped him on the skull. “I’m not going to do anything without talking to you about it.”

“I don’t know what you’re up to,” King said. “But I’m sure I one hundred percent support it.”

Raine sighed.

“You should come down for breakfast,” they said. “I was going to bring a tray up, but Hooty insisted on helping cook and…I’m not sure that was a good idea.”

Eda laughed, gently shifting King off her lap before stretching and climbing to her feet.

They made their way downstairs and, sure enough, Hooty was coiled over the stove, holding a wooden spoon in his beak and humming a song of his own creation.

There were lyrics, no doubt completely deranged, but with his grip on the spoon, it was hard to make much out other than something about demonic mice and “hoot!”

“Morning, Hooty,” Eda said, padding into the kitchen.

“Oooooooh, Edaaaaa!” Hooty said delightedly, dropping the spoon. “Look what IIIII made you for breakfast!”

Eda peered into the frying pan to see something very thin and breadish sizzling in it.

“Really flat pancakes?” she asked, flashing back to one of Luz’s favorite breakfast foods.

“They’re CREEEPS!” Hooty said.

“Creeps?” Eda asked. “You mean crepes? The human food?”

“Oh they’re like crepes,” Hooty said, bouncing excitedly. “But way, wayyyyy creepier! Guess what the secret ingredient is! I bet you CAAN’T!”

“Do I want to know what the secret ingredient is?” Eda asked.

“If it’s demonic mice, I’m not eating it,” Raine added.

“Speak for yourself,” Eda said.

“Can I guess?” King asked. “I guess the secret ingredient isss kindness! And goodwill towards all!”

“Ew, no,” Hooty said. “It’s the entire bag of sugar that Luz brought us from the Human Realm.”

“It’s a lot of sugar,” Raine said.

“Yeee-eeees,” Hooty said. “And Luz said it causes caves in your teeth, and caves are CREEPY!”

“Cavities, Hooty,” Eda said. “I guess I should make another list of things for Luz to pick up in the human realm, since we don’t have any sugar left. We’re going through it all pretty fast. Or I could go get it myself. Flex my bandit muscles.”

Raine laughed as Eda flexed her arm.

“Oh! Oh!” King said. “Take me! We can be a bandit duo!”

King sounded earnest, but Eda could tell that something was off. It had been for a while, and it was pretty clear that King was going through the motions of normalcy, as if desperate to return to something…Something before the revelation that he was the last Titan, before the Day Of Unity and before The Collector had wrought havoc on the Boiling Isles.

“I won’t leave you behind, King,” Eda said.

The group sat down at the kitchen table and Hooty served them Creeps, which were essentially breaded sugar.

Eda and Raine fell into a debate about whether it was appropriate to drink hot apple blood, and Hooty held forth about his latest correspondence with Lilith.

King was quieter. He scarfed down his plate of Creeps and then hopped to the window, staring out at the path intently.

“You okay there, King?” Eda asked.

“I’m just waiting for Luz to get back. If she comes back.”

“She will. She’ll be here soon.”

Luz had been spending a decent amount of time in Connecticut, now that a stable passage between worlds had been reestablished. It did make life in Eda’s house a bit quieter when she and Hunter weren’t there, but it seemed like King missed her the most.

“You wanna’ talk about anything, King?”

He shook his head.

The house itself had needed, and still needed, some pretty significant repairs.

Much of the contents were still missing after having been taken by Coven scouts. Recovering it all was proving more difficult than anticipated. Not only was the former Empire in complete chaos, but The Collector had thrown the warehouse containing all the confiscated material two miles east after getting bored playing hide and seek with the Coven scouts inside.

“I wish I knew what he was thinking,” Eda said quietly, clearing the dishes away while King continued to sit in the window. “I know he’ll talk to me when he’s ready - and he knows he can anytime - but there’s some stuff we really need to talk about.”

“You’re not sure how to talk to him about your plan, are you,” Raine said knowingly. 

“It’s not a plan, I don’t have a plan,” Eda said. “It’s an idea, and I still don’t have a clue where to start. There’s nothing in the library, and you couldn’t find anything in the Castle.”

“What’s left of the Castle,” Raine said. “That didn’t hold up well, either.”

Eda found herself staring at them, not for the first time in recent days. She usually looked away when she caught herself, before Raine noticed but, on the times like this when they did notice, they simply gave her a warm smile.

Eda felt her face go flush, but she couldn’t help but smile back.

She felt like her heart was going to explode, but along with it was something else.

Maybe it was the residual anxiety that was always with her from the curse, but Eda couldn’t shake the feeling that this wouldn’t last, and at any second it was all going to fall apart again.

***

“Raine!”

At first Eda couldn’t process what was happening.

King, Luz, her friends were who knows where and the plan to thwart the Draining Spell had failed.

Everyone around her, nearly everyone she knew was dying, their magic, their very life energy being pulled from them into the eclipse above.

Everyone.

But all Eda could focus on was one.

“ Raine. ”

Her best friend, sometimes more, lost and regained, now dying at her knees, their last act having been to save her life.

The Owl Beast was screaming from her subconscious, but it didn’t matter. It was all over.

Raine was dying and there was nothing Eda could do. Nothing anybody could do.

But then someone did.

It was as if a great shudder went through the entire fabric of reality and, before Eda could even react to that, there was light.

Bright, blinding light.

It was so sudden that it took a moment for her to realize the light was coming from the sun overhead.

‘ They’re here! ’ came the panicked knowledge from the recesses of her subconscious where the curse lived. ‘ They’re HERE! '

The eclipse was over already, the draining spell dissipating with it.

Except eclipses weren’t supposed to end that fast.

With some effort, Eda tore her gaze away from Raine and raised it to the sky.

“Did we…lose time…” she whispered in confusion.

Not only was the moon no longer eclipsing the sun, it wasn’t anywhere near the sun.

“What’s going on?” a voice asked from nearby.

“The moon just…”

“Did it just move ?”

“Get up.”

“Here, let me help you.”

“Where’s Belos? Where’s the Emperor?”

“He betrayed you, can’t you see ?! He was trying to kill you, he was trying to kill you all!”

“How did the moon move that fast?”

“It must have been Belos.”

“Nobody else has that power.”

Eda stared at the moon for a long time, trying to understand.

“Who?” she whispered. “ Who’s here?”

She looked down at Raine, grabbing their shoulder with her remaining hand and shaking them roughly.

“Raine! Raine! Wake up!”

Raine did not respond.

“Come on, come on. I need you to be okay. I’m not sure who I’ve got left right now.”

There was still no movement from Raine, aside from Eda’s desperate shaking.

Then there was a hand on her own shoulder and she yelped, not just from the surprise but because it was the shoulder of her arm that was now missing. And, to her surprise, she had the realization that it was hurting, and had been for a while.

“Eda! Oh good Titan, your arm. I didn’t see…”

It was Darius, and he quickly let go and crouched down beside Eda and Raine. He was holding a nearly-unconscious Eberwolf under one arm.

“Don’t worry about my arm,” Eda said. “We’ve got to get Raine out of here. I can’t rouse them, but someone or something is coming and we have to hide now .”

Darius put a hand on Raine.

“Is it Belos?” he asked.

“No, not Belos. Something older and far, far worse.”

“How do you know that?”

“Benefits of having a curse, I guess.”

There was a massive rumbling, cracking sound and questions and murmurs of confusion rose from the nearby survivors as they all looked around to locate the source.

It didn’t take long for everyone to discover that it was coming from the Titan’s skull itself.

For a moment, Eda half wondered if it were the Titan returning to life, but she quickly realized, as did most everyone else, that the skull was cracking and ripping apart. Pieces were being swept up into the air and the tremors could be felt across the Isles.

There were no words from within, but Eda knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that this was the doing of the mysterious new threat.

“That’s them,” she said, turning back to Darius. “We need to go.”

Darius, to Eda’s relief, did not question her.

“Do you think you can carry Eber?” he asked. 

Eda stood up, an act that proved slightly more difficult than she’d anticipated, and held out her arm.

Eberwolf weakly tried to help, but was too out of it to do much. Fortunately, Eda’s grip was strong.

Darius seemed better off than most and manifested an abomination sling to carry Raine.

“Right,” he said. “Let’s go.”

He looked regretfully at the other Coven Heads, who were struggling to regroup and recover.

Eda could see his conflict. They’d all been victims of Belos’ true plans. She too was looking around, hoping to spot Lilith or Hooty.

But she also knew that staying here much longer would condemn them all. Activity was starting to break into confusion.

“ Lily !” she called. “LILY IF YOU CAN GET HOOTY, WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! SOMETHING BAD IS COMING!”

“I’ll get them, Owl Lady,” a voice said from beside her. Alador Blight, of all people. “You get going. There’s a defunct factory workshop on the Knee. We’ll meet there. If you get there first, this will get you in.”

He held out a key that seemed to be made of dried abomination goop.

Eda felt a wave of relief. If Alador was here, that no doubt meant that Luz and King had made connections with Amity. She’d have to have some words with him later about allowing the kids anywhere near this location, but for the moment she was simply grateful.

“Put it in my hair, Blight,” she said. “And you better bring Luz and King with you. Whatever just showed up is bad news and I don’t want them to meet it.”

Alador gave her a stricken look that she didn’t like at all.

He did, however, hide the factory key in her hair.

“Keep your word,” Eda said coldly, even though Alador had not promised anything, or spoken a word since telling her about the warehouse.

And she and Darius, carrying Raine and Eberwolf, hurried down the steps and ran for their lives, bursting through the Abomatons, which seemed to have been decommissioned, most likely by Alador. Eda once again felt a sense of gratefulness towards Amity’s father.

“Luz, you’re a good influence,” she muttered to herself.

Something about Alador’s expression kept bothering her, though, and she wished she’d asked him a few more direct questions instead of making assumptions.

It was too late now, and the wind was picking up.

Eda and Darius pushed their way through the throngs of witches and demons who were also intent on making a break for it.

At the edge of the woods, they momentarily turned and looked back.

“What in the name of these blasted Islands,” Darius muttered.

The Titan’s skull had nearly disintegrated by now, much of it had collapsed in on itself, but a not-insignificant portion of the debris was swirling into the sky.

And from somewhere amidst the swiftly-turning vortex, there was the sound of joyous laughter.

Chapter Text

Luz’s entrances back into the Boiling Isles and, more specifically, the particular section of the Boiling Isles where Eda happened to be at any given time, were usually punctuated by a bit of dramatics, some wordplay, or a slightly-over-the-top proclamation.

Sometimes it was all three.

This day was no exception.

Eda was pouring over a book on glass-making, when Luz literally kicked the door open as Hooty screeched, and leaped into the house.

“Never fear!” she cried. “The Luz-nado is here!”

“Luz, if you break my door you’re going to fix it,” Eda said, abandoning the book crossing the room to wrap her arm around Luz.

Luz reciprocated the hug, probably more tightly than the situation warranted, but Eda was not going to make any complaints.

It was, she thought in amusement, kind of incredible that this human gesture of affection had once been something that felt foreign and, at times, alarming. In what was a surprisingly short amount of time, all things considered, it had become a deeply important and comforting expression for the inhabitants of the Owl House.

And they all had Luz to thank for that.

Eda stepped back, still holding onto Luz’s shoulder.

“Let me look at you, kid. You been eating enough? I think you’ve grown !”

“Eda, I’ve been gone for five days.”

“Yeah, well. That’s five days I’ve had to worry about you. I think I’ve got more grey hairs.”

“Your hair’s already grey.”

“No it’s not. It’s silver .”

“Well, maybe if you’d let me give you a cell phone you could keep in touch and you wouldn't have to worry so much.”

“I am not stooping to the low of owning one of those human Penstagram knockoffs. I hear they rot your brains.”

“Edaaaaa, you deal in human garbage.”

“Yes. I sell it to others. I don’t use it myself .”

“You’re literally reading a book from the human realm!” Luz cried, pointing at the glass-craft book lying open on the newly-reclaimed couch (that had only needed a bit of cleaning after it had been found upside-down in the woods a short time ago).

Their banter had become a staple and neither would have it any other way. Being locked in separate realms after the Day Of Unity had made both Eda and Luz appreciate that they were able to see each other again.

Still, there was an unspoken dilemma.

Eda wasn’t under any illusions that being able to freely pass between dimensions had necessarily made Luz’s life any easier.

Although amicable to the arrangement, it was clear that Camilla would rather have her daughter in Connecticut full-time.

And, if Eda were brutally honest with herself, she knew she wanted the opposite and would be perfectly happy to have Luz never leave the Boiling Isles again.

She stepped back to give King and Hooty room to greet Luz with much enthusiasm.

They surrounded Luz, who laughed in delight and gushed about just how much she’d missed them.

“Can I say hello to Luz now?” Raine said, from where they were leaning against the doorway of the living room.

“No!” King said, having wrapped himself around Luz’s left arm. “My human!”

“You wait your turn!” Hooty howled.

Eda turned to Raine and shrugged.

“Let them have this,” she said. “They’ve been through so much.”

Raine moved to stand beside Eda.

“So have you,” they said.

***

Eda and Darius had just made it to the Knee when Alador caught up with Lilith, Hooty, Edric and Emira in tow.

At Eda’s insistence, they’d been traveling on foot, not wanting to draw attention. Judging from the explosions and flying debris in the sky above, this had been the right decision. But she knew they were far from safe.

However, as Eda hugged a sobbing Lilith and Hooty, there was a bigger and very glaring concern.

Alador only had two children with him.

“Where are Luz and King?” she demanded, heart sinking as Alador’s expression collapsed and he sank to the ground, head in his hands.

“Blight,” Eda growled, advancing with fury in her eyes. “Last I knew, King was going with Luz to see Amity, and if something happened to them on your watch, so help me…”

Edric and Emira stepped between them, hands raised to use defensive magic if needed.

Alador couldn’t speak.

“Leave him alone,” Emira said. “He’s trying his best.”

“I’ll ask again,” Eda said. “Where. Are. Luz. And. King?”

Edric stepped forward.

“Eda…” he began.

“That’s Owl Lady to you, until you tell me where my kids are.”

“Luz got captured by Kikimora,” Edric admitted, grimacing. “She was taken to Emperor Belos.”

“ WHAT !?!”

Edric winced at the sheer anger and fear radiating from Eda.

“We gave chase,” Alador said. “Amity and King went after her, along with Willow and Gus and that Golden Guard kid.”

“The Golden Guard went to face Belos too? Oh this is bad. You don’t know the half of it. They could all be dead. Where is Belos?”

“That’s just it,” Alador said, his voice hollow. “They were in…they were in the Skull, Edalyn.”

A number of emotions hit Eda all at once, each overpowering the other. She’d seen what had happened to the Skull, and the chances of surviving that were nil.

She felt anger, pure rage for sure, but they carried her nowhere and were consumed, along with the others, by something else from which there was no return.

Distantly, Eda felt her knees hit the snow. She couldn’t tell whether her blood had run cold or her temperature had skyrocketed. It felt like both at the same time. She didn’t think she could breathe.

She’d felt something similar when she realized the plan to stop the Draining Spell had failed. But somehow this was more viscerally intense, filling her with a level of despair she’d never really experienced before.

The pain in her arm surged strangely.

Someone was saying something, perhaps?

Eda wasn’t sure. It might have just been in her head. 

None of this was real, it couldn’t be. It had to be a dream. Nothing could feel this sharp and numb at the same time.

It was a dream. It had to be a dream. She needed to wake up.

Was someone shaking her?

The voice might have belonged to Lilith, or there might not have been a voice at all.

She just wanted it to stop and not be.

***

And then Eda did wake up.

Sometimes she woke up screaming but, more often than not, she simply awoke with a start and lay perfectly still, while she took a few moments to catch up and remember what was dream and what was reality.

Sometimes it wasn’t easy.

This particular dream, like so many, had actually happened, and it wasn’t an experience she enjoyed reliving, dream or not.

It was with great relief that Eda remembered that Luz, King and the others were back safe, and currently under her roof.

She continued to lie as still as possible, taking stock of where she was and when she was, in her loft, in her nest, with her family safe.

She hardly dared to breathe, lest she somehow break the illusion that everything was okay. 

Beside her, Raine muttered something sleepily, and shook her again.

“You ‘kay?” they murmured.

“Dreams again,” Eda said quietly. “But I’m fine.”

“Nonsense,” Raine said.

“I’m sorry.”

“Ach, Eda. Please stop apologizing.”

Eda didn’t realize she was shaking until one of Raine’s hands found her own and stilled it.

“Oh, it’s just…” Eda said, squeezing Raine’s hand back. “I know what it feels like to lose everything and now that I have something to lose again…”

Raine sighed.

“I’m afraid at least part of that is my own fault,” they said. “I gave up on you all those years ago when you needed support the most.”

“Eh, I wasn’t exactly the most accepting of your support or anyone else’s. It’s my fault, too.”

“Well, I’m here now,” Raine said firmly. “So you can accept my help now.” They felt Eda tense. “No, no, that’s not a threat or a warning, Eda. I told you when I asked to stay that this wasn’t conditional. I know as well as you do that this isn’t necessarily going to be smooth sailing for either of us. But I made a commitment because I wanted to, and I’m here as long as you’ll have me.”

Eda sniffed, holding onto Raine’s hand tighter than ever, but not trusting herself to speak.

Raine’s regular reassurances of their continued presence meant everything and, against the advice of her anxieties, she was starting to believe them - even if she still couldn’t shake the fear completely.

“I was going to wait to tell you until I was sure,” Raine said, shifting closer and laying their head on Eda’s chest. “But I finally talked to Darius, and we think we know where it is.”

Eda’s mood completely changed in a matter of seconds.

“What?” she asked.

“I told you we wouldn’t have disposed of it,” Raine went on. “But you can imagine how inquiring about it might raise some suspicions.”

“But Darius is okay with us proceeding?”

“Hardly,” Raine laughed. “I think his exact words were ‘What in the name of Titan is wrong with you and the Owl Lady?’”

Eda laughed at Raine’s impression, and the imagined look of horror and bewilderment on Darius’ face.

“I believe,” Raine continued. “He also said that our plan was one of the worst ideas he’d ever heard and that we clearly must have been spending days calculating exactly how we could make a plan so terrible.”

Eda was shaking again, but this time from silent laughter, as she didn’t want to wake up the entire household.

“Look, I’m not saying it’s a smart idea,” she said, once she was able to catch her breath. “Or even a good idea. But if I just let go and break a promise like that…I don’t think I could live with myself, Rainstorm.”

Raine threaded their fingers together and ran a thumb over some fairly recent scars on Eda’s hand.

“You made a commitment,” Eda continued. “Even though you knew it wasn’t going to be easy. So did I. And I intend to follow through.

“It was the right decision,” Raine said. “And, fortunately for us, Darius understands that sometimes the right decision isn’t the one that sound the smartest.”

“So do you think you can get it?” Eda asked.

“It might not be easy,” Raine admitted. “We don’t want to draw attention from the other Coven Heads. But I don’t think they anticipate anyone ever wanting to take it, so we have that working in our favor.”

With the Emperor gone, the Boiling Isles had unsurprisingly fallen into slight anarchy. Everyone was trying to figure things out, but most of them didn’t have any idea of what direction they even wanted to go. The general population was mostly focused on the immediate rebuilding of their homes, not quite thinking beyond that at the moment.

The Coven Heads had convened and resolved to try to get some structure to the attempts to rebuild and repair the astronomical amount of damage - most of it caused by The Collector.

It had sounded like a good idea on paper and, at least initially, they had all agreed to put aside their differences and move forward together in service of the greater good.

In practice, it wasn’t so simple.

It hadn’t taken long for it to become apparent that some Coven Heads had extremely differing ideas as to what constituted the greater good.

So far, it had fallen more into infighting, tension and snark within Coven, and very little had been agreed upon as far as actually helping the struggling citizens of the Isles.

Eda knew a bit better than most, thanks to Raine, just how bad things were.

It was a lot to worry about, but Eda had chosen to put her focus where it counted - on the things she could control.

There was a tap on the door, followed by a creak as something small pushed it open.

Eda lifted her head.

“King?”

King had grown tremendously since she had first brought him home, had grown even in the time since Luz had first arrived.

However, oftentimes now he seemed smaller than ever, dwarfed by the knowledge of his heritage and potential destiny.

“Can I…” King said in a voice that sounded even smaller than he looked. “Stay here tonight?”

“You can,” Eda said. “But I thought you were hanging out with Luz tonight. She didn’t kick you out, did she?”

Eda couldn’t imagine Luz doing any such thing, but King looked and sounded a bit upset.

“No,” King said. “She, uh, snuck out to go visit Amity.”

“Of course she did,” Eda said, while Raine snickered.

“She…didn’t want me to tell you,” King added.

“I heard nothing,” Eda said. “At least, not from you.”

“How,” Raine said. “Is this human not your daughter.”

“You don’t mind if I stay?” King asked, still hanging back. 

“King, get over here,” Eda insisted. 

He didn’t need any more convincing in order to scuttle over to the nest and crawl in, circling a few times before snuggling between Eda and Raine.

“Still getting used to this having kids thing,” Raine said, smiling down at King as he fell asleep almost instantaneously. “Never thought it was in the cards for me.”

“I didn’t either,” Eda said. “As as my luck would have it, my kids have ended up being pretty unconventional.”

“Gods and humans you mean?” Raine teased. “And the occasional grimwalker? I can’t imagine us having any other kind of kids.”

***

Eda had very little memory of the rest of the journey across the Knee.

Miraculously the group had somehow made contact with a few other members of the CATs and they had, in turn, been working to bring others to safety.

This extended network had already set up hideouts sequestered in some of the more remote parts of the Island and were focusing on healing those who needed it and ascertaining exactly what was going on.

Whole portions of the Isles had been destroyed, some reassembled, and there seemed to be entire structures hanging in the air at odd angles. 

At times, unhinged laughter echoed from these structures or from areas where the destruction was occurring.

The laughter was the only thing that cut through the fog that Eda found herself in. She’d recognized it from the moment she’d first heard it. Or, rather, the Owl Beast did. It was the same laugh Eda had heard in a dream not so long ago, when she had connected with the Owl Beast.

She knew that this creature, whose laugh now echoed across the Boiling Isles, was the creature responsible for creating the curse that afflicted her.

She tried to explain this to Lilith and Hooty, while they tended to Raine and Eberwolf, and the rest of those who were fighting to recover from the Draining Spell.

Eda couldn’t remember if the Day Of Unity had been hours or days ago anymore.

She tried to pull herself together for Raine, who stirred a couple of times, but still did not awake.

Still, it was something. It was enough to offer hope of recovery.

Eda had all but lost hope of anything else.

Chapter Text

When the party of CATs and others arrived at the defunct Blight Industries bunker at the Knee, there was instant bickering as to whether the location was safe, as the Knee stood high and might therefore be noticed or seen as a target.

Raine and Eberwolf, although still not conscious, seemed to be doing better now that they were no longer traveling. Lilith helped get them situated on a cot, before turning her attention to Eda’s arm.

“There’s not much to cauterize,” Lilith said, as she cleaned it up. “You’re lucky your - our curse allows for such clean limb removal. Otherwise this would be a much bigger mess.”

“I just don’t understand why it hurts this time, Lily,” Eda said. “I’ve taken my limbs off, my head off even, at least a couple dozen times. I can’t say it didn’t feel weird, but it’s never hurt before.”

Gradually, pieces of news trickled in from around the Isles, much of it confusing, much of it only raising more questions.

No one had seen hide nor hair of Belos and, while there had initially been assumptions that he was behind the chaos currently turning the Boiling Isles inside-out (quite literally in some places), it was starting to become apparent that this wasn’t the case.

“ I could have told them that ,” Eda said.

It wasn’t long before they had a name to attach to this newcomer and their destructive chaos.

The Collector.

Eda felt a cold fury rise within her when she heard the name.

She’d once commented her opinions on anyone who used “ The ” anything for their name, back when Luz had first found reference to the entity known as The Collector in Phillip Wittebane’s diary.

Now, knowing they were not only one of Phillip’s closest allies, but also responsible for both her curse and the apparent deaths of Luz, King, Hunter, Willow and Gus, Eda was filled with an all-consuming resolve to personally wipe them and their pretentious name off the face of the Boiling Isles.

She would do it or die trying.

Maybe it was best if she did die trying.

Except…

She couldn’t do that to Raine. Wouldn’t do that to Raine.

Fine. She would destroy The Collector and live to tell the tale.

From Luz’s descriptions following her trip into Belos’... Phillip’s mind with Hunter, Eda was able to fill her allies in on what she knew about The Collector.

They existed as a living shadow, able to change size and shape at will. They delighted in destruction, and Phillip’s plans for the Draining Spell at the Day Of Unity.

Luz had also mentioned something about them being trapped underneath the bones of the Titan, and Phillip releasing them to wreak havoc on the Day Of Unity.

Not only that but the Titan Trappers, who had their sights set on murdering King, worshipped The Collector as their god, leaving little doubt that this shadow-entity was out for Titan blood.

Phillip, it seemed, had made good on his promise to release The Collector.

This still didn’t explain where Phillip himself had gone, or how the moon had moved out of the way so quickly, stopping the Draining Spell.

While these mysteries were a major topic of discussion amongst those hiding out, Eda was torturing herself with the knowledge that King had gone to face Phillip with the others and would most likely have come face-to-face with The Collector.

What that would have looked like was anyone’s guess, but that didn’t stop Eda from imagining it over and over.

It played a little differently in her mind each time, but she had a pretty good idea how it ended.

It might have given Eda some comfort to know that King was, at least for the moment, still alive and atop the Owl House.

It would have probably given her less comfort to know he was looking and feeling more than a little overwhelmed, hanging limply from where he was tucked under The Collector’s arm like a teddy bear.

King had nearly given up trying to reason with his captor, and it was getting harder and harder to play along with their destructive games or feign enthusiasm at their sheer, unbridled glee of being back in the physical realm and able to touch and destroy things.

King did have to admit, he considered himself extremely fortunate The Collector hadn’t splattered him into goo like Belos the moment they suspected he might not have been entirely honest about his supposed “Owl House game” or his reasons for letting them out.

As it turned out, either freeing them really did count for something, or The Collector had the attention span of a caffeinated squirrel, because they moment they got their hands on King after he’d safely sent Luz and the others back to the human realm, they’d glommed onto him while turning somersaults in the air and screaming something about freedom and friends and not letting either go.

They’d barely let go of him since.

King had quickly learned that the Collector was both highly susceptible to the power of suggestion, and incredibly knowledgeable about magic throughout the realms.

They’d accepted King’s desperate explanation that the other kids had gone to play hide-and-seek, but also very much knew where they had gone.

“Hiding in the human realm is cheating , though,” they’d whined. “No fair. I don’t wanna’ play with cheaters. ”

“Well, we won’t play with them,” Kind had replied.

To his relief, The Collector had agreed and had returned focus to knocking over every large object in sight with barely a wave of their hand.

“Hah! You thought you’d got rid of me, did you, you big bully!” they screamed, presumably at the Titan that was the Boiling Isles. “I’m baaaaaaaaaaack!”

King wasn’t sure if this was better, but at least his human sister and her friends were safe.

It hadn’t taken him long to realize that The Collector didn’t just lack a moral compass, they didn’t quite comprehend the concept of morality at all, and had no grasp of empathy. Their only concern was whether they were having fun and whether they were entertained at every single moment of every single day. They were finally free and having the time of their life and wanted to make sure the whole land knew it.

They did not understand that others were not as indestructible as themself.

They were enraged by those who didn’t want to play, and took great delight in punishing such individuals - usually by flinging them across great distances and then zooming back into the sky laughing.

The obvious insincerity of those who did play along out of self-preservation was completely lost on The Collector. They truly believed those who did so actually wanted to play with them.

Somehow this frightened King more than anything.

He was beginning to see how Phillip had strung The Collector along for close to four hundred years with only minimal suspicion towards the end of all that time.

It had become imperative to King that the other inhabitants of the Boiling Isles, especially certain Coven Heads and suppliers to the Empire not learn of The Collector’s suggestible nature.

And so, he had continued to play along, trying his best to dampen, minimize and redirect their actions.

Now, however, atop the roof of the structure that had once been his home, King was realizing that things were getting way out of hand, and he was pretty muchly powerless to stop it.

The Collector raised a hand and, with it rose the very ground of Bonesborough, the buildings tangling together with dried chunks of bone, wrapped together with sinew to form a tower that rose up and up, the surrounding land being pulled in as it grew taller.

“What’s this going to be?” King asked tiredly, although he had a bad feeling he already knew.

“We need more players,” The Collector said. “Some of your friends are just dull and don’t want to play right. Mine are way better.”

King rolled his eyes.

“Not everyone wants to play all the time!” he said, for what felt like the thousandth time.

“Boooooooooooo!” The Collector replied. “What’s wrong with them? I’ve been locked up for like foreverrrrrrrrr and a half. I wanna’ have fun!”

The Collector made a disgusted face at the thought of anyone not wanting to play, and casually flicked a finger at some trees, removing the bark and directing it to weave into ropes surrounding the tower.

They pulled more material from the floating debris across the land.

“Just wait until you meet my other friends!” they cried. “They know the most fun games! And they don’t get all silly about actually playing them.”

“If it’s the Titan Trappers you’re bringing here,” King said. “They don’t want to play games, they want to hunt down Titans. And I’m a Titan.”

“Yeah! Exactly!”

“You…uh…really don’t see the problem there, do you?”

“Titan hunting is a really fun game though! It’ll be great!”

King kicked and clawed at The Collector, but they continued to hold him tight.

“See!” The Collector said. “You’re already good at it!”

“I’m not playing , you ding-dong! Your Titan Trapper friends want to literally kill me.”

His words still didn’t seem to be registering.

“Look, Collector,” he continued. “You said you were my friend, right?”

“Yeah, duh ,” The Collector said.

“Then you don’t want me dead . And your huntsman worshippers will kill me .”

“Oh if that’s what you’re all worried about, it’s not a big deal,” The Collector said. “I’ll just bring you back if you lose.”

King blinked.

“Not a big deal?” he cried, feeling the panic creeping higher. “ Not a big deal ?”

Of course, he realized. Not only did The Collector have no comprehension of empathy or consequences, they also had the power of a god at their disposal and things like mortality meant nothing to them. That too was within their control.

“I DON’T WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME!” King screamed.

“Oh don’t be such a fun-sucker, King.”

The Collector turned back to the tower and lifted a finger, tapping the air.

“ Bzzzzzzzzt !” they said.

The tower jolted, shaking the surroundings with yet another earthquake. It began to glow.

“ Bzzzzzzt to you, too,” King muttered, pushing against The Collector once again and this time, to his surprise, finding just enough wiggle room to escape their grasp, hitting the roof running and not looking back as he made a beeline for the trees in the opposite direction to the forming tower.

“KING!” he heard The Collector’s voice calling after him, and he halfway expected to be reeled back in, even as he ran, panting and putting distance between them.

The Collector looked back and forth from where King was disappearing, to where the bridge to the other side of the world was forming, their eyes glowing brightly and expression unreadable.

And then they made a choked, almost squeaking sound that morphed its way into a laugh.

“Run, King!” they howled. “RUUNNNNNN!!”

***

Something was bothering Eda.

She was trying to keep it on the down low, but King knew her too well for that and could still tell.

And anything that bothered Eda, whatever it might be, bothered King.

He asked Raine about it, but they insisted this was something he needed to talk directly to Eda about.

That was all King needed to confirm that there was indeed something requiring a discussion, but Eda was clearly avoiding it.

Some things hadn’t changed.

King didn’t want to push it. He knew that she would eventually clue him in at some point, but he still inquired with Luz if there was anything going on that she knew about.

“Ah-hah!” Luz said. “Maybe she’s changed her mind about my idea for throwing a surprise party for Hunter!”

“Oooohhhhh!” King said, tail wagging. “Wait, you just blew the surprise. Hunter’s right over there.”

Hunter was sitting in the corner, where he was reading a book and theatrically ignoring them, Flapjack on his head.

“Oh he’s not listening,” Luz said loudly. “He’s reading !”

They both laughed and Hunter twitched as he tried to pretend they didn’t exist.

“What would be the occasion for this party?” King pressed. 

“Hunter’s never had any kind of party,” Luz said. “He doesn’t exactly have a birthday.”

“He doesn’t know when he popped up out of the mud?” King asked.

“I’m RIGHT HERE!” Hunter shouted. “I’m not a damn potato!”

“Edaaaaaaa!” Luz called, deliberately not loud enough for Eda to actually hear “Hunter’s yelling at me!”

“Hunter’s yelling at me,” Hunter mocked back sarcastically. 

“Blah blah blah blah blah,” retorted Luz.

“Blah blah blah blah blah BLAH!” Hunter shot back.

From his head, Flapjack tweeted loudly.

“Aaaaaaghhhh stop it you two!” King said. “I’M supposed to be the annoying sibling here!”

“Awwww, no,” Luz said, scooping him up. “You’re the baby!”

“Nooooooo!” King laughed as she rocked him back and forth. “I’m a terrifying Titan ruler!”

“Naaawwwww! You’re just the babiest baby Titan ever to be a cute baby!”

“I am not a baby!” King protested with no conviction whatsoever, fighting to keep from laughing again.

“Luz, put the terrifying Titan ruler down,” Hunter said. “You’ll make him dizzy.”

“Neverrrrrrrr!” both Luz and King screeched.

“You’re ridiculous, the both of you,” Hunter said. He sighed. “But in all seriousness, King. You’re not wrong about Eda.”

“Wha?” King asked, as Luz stopped rocking him.

“She’s preoccupied,” Hunter said. “And I’d go so far as to say worried. And I…I think it might be me. She knows what I am.”

He ran his still-gloved hands across his face. Flapjack started twittering a long rant.

“Hunter, you know that’s a load of bunk,” Luz said. “Eda is the last person who’d ever care that you’re a Grimwalker.”

“AGH! LUZ! Stop saying it.”

“I keep telling you. It’s nothing to be ashamed of! Why would it be?”

King watched in slight fascination as the two went back and forth. It wasn’t the first time, either.

Luz, he knew, wanted to help Hunter and cared a great deal about him despite their constant bickering. She was often, however, at a loss as to exactly how to go about helping Hunter. Her attempts at comfort sometimes had the opposite effect, and she made no secret how much this frustrated her.

If anything, Hunter was having an even more difficult time now that the immediate dangers of Phillip and The Collector were past. Now he actually had to think about things beyond surviving from moment to moment. He had to contemplate who he was, who he wanted to be, and what he was going to do next in his life.

“It’s obviously my fault, anyway,” Luz was saying.

“What?” Hunter asked incredulously. “My entire identity crisis is your fault now?”

Flapjack chirped indignantly.

“No, you dork. Not that. Me. I’m the one stressing Eda out.”

“How do you figure that?” King asked.

“Because I haven’t figured out where I'm supposed to be. I’ve got a foot here and a foot in Connecticut now. This ,” she waved her hand around. “The Boiling Isles feels like home in a way Gravesfield never did. But my Mom , my whole old life? I can’t just leave it to live in a fantasy world.”

“But that’s literally what you did!” Hunter said. “That’s why you came here in the first place.”

“And look what happened! I became a key pawn in Phi… Belos’ rise to power! I’m the reason he made contact with The Collector! Belos was full of it, but he wasn’t lying about humans not belonging here. We just…we just mess things up.”

“That’s not true!” King insisted. “Next to Eda stealing me from my nursery, you’re the best thing ever to happen in my life.”

“You’re the entire reason I even have a life,” Hunter said. He grimaced. “Whatever weird reanimated dead person copy life I have, it’s still mine. If you hadn’t helped Belos find The Collector, he’d have never even learned to make a Grimwalker…”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Luz said. “It really doesn’t help at all .”

Hunter looked devastated.

“I mean,” Luz continued quickly. “I’m really happy you exist and all, and you’re a really great, really brave person. But my actions that allowed you to exist also enabled a…a…is he still technically a serial killer if he murdered clones of the same person over and over and over?”

“No idea!” Hooty said, suddenly popping through the window and causing everyone to scream.

“HOOTY!” Luz shouted.

“I will never get used to that thing,” Hunter said, having dropped to the floor where he was now lying, clutching his chest and staring at the ceiling, or where the ceiling would have been if his entire field of vision hadn’t been taken over by an extremely enthusiastic house demon, which Flapjack was fluttering above, berating.

“But I do know,” Hooty went on, ignoring the reactions that his appearance had elicited. “That Belos tried to wipe out all sentient life on the Boiling Isles, and there is a word for that.”

“Ohhhhh, oh no,” Luz said, hiding her face in King’s fur. “Oh no, no. That’s on me, too, isn’t it.”

“Whoah there Luz. That’s not what I’m saying at all, GEEEEEZ!” Hooty said. “These things are all sooooo interconnected and complex that it’s full-on pointless to try to place alllllll the blame on any one of us.”

“That’s…really deep,” King said. “Who are you and what have you done with Hooty?”

“Oh what ?” Hooty said, sounding offended. “I’m not allowed to be philosophical? Just because I know how to party doesn’t mean I can’t be scholarly too! Yeesh! Hoot! I read things besides cookbooks, you know.”

“I thought you just ate the cookbooks,” King said.

“That too.”

“Thanks, Hooty,” Luz said, giving him a pat on the head. “That actually does make me feel a bit better.”

“Praise from you, Luz, means the world to meeeeee,” Hooty said happily.

“Yes, you make a good point,” Hunter said, sitting up and brushing himself off while Flapjack returned to perch on his shoulder. “We could spend all day trying to parse out exactly which of us bears responsibility for what outcome and completely miss out on the bigger picture.”

“Exact-a-hoot-ly,” Hooty said.

“Which is, of course,” Hunter continued. “That The Collector is at fault for all of it.”

“Did you literally misunderstand what I said on purpose ?” Hooty howled.

“No, think about it,” Hunter said. “I’m not wrong. Belos’ rise to power, the Titan Slayers, the Grimwalkers, the Day Of Unity, Eda’s curse? It all comes back to The Collector in the end. Everything .”

***

King was in unfamiliar territory.

Even the areas of the land he once knew by heart had been either reshaped or rendered unrecognizable. 

And King rarely ventured quite this deep into the forest at all, let alone by himself.

Let alone at night.

He’d long ago gotten lost, but he couldn’t stop moving.

Up above, the sky was dark and punctuated by stars.

Somehow, this wasn’t comforting.

Not only had the all stars been moved from their normal positions and constellations into entirely new patterns, but King felt like they were watching him, laughing.

Distant crunching and heavy footfalls from the direction he’d come, told King he was most definitely being pursued.

Whether it was by the Titan Trappers, or just some other more local denizens or forest dwellers didn’t really matter at this point.

All King could hope for was to stay ahead of whoever was back there, and somehow try to get them off his trail.

He didn’t think he’d ever felt smaller and more alone than he did right then, racing into the thickest, gloomiest part of the woods he could find, trees towering above.

He hoped Luz and her friends were doing okay, and he received some consolation from the fact that he’d succeeded in making sure they made it to her home realm and were safely away from what was happening on the Isles.

Still, he selfishly missed his big-sister-by-choice and wished more than anything that she was here now and could scoop him up and that they could escape together to find Eda and Hooty.

For a moment, King indulged himself in the imagined scenario, drawing both comfort and pain from it.

A soft rustle brought him sharply back to reality, and he glanced around wildly as it had come from much closer than the other sounds of pursuit. 

His heart nearly leapt into his throat as he caught sight of a pair of blazing red eyes that could only belong to The Collector, hovering in the darkness just a few paces back.

For a moment, King forgot to breathe.

He shrank back into the tangled roots of the far side of the closest tree, praying (to himself?) that he didn’t make a sound.

He knew better than to assume that the shadows alone would hide him from The Collector. They could see movement and tiny details from immense distances when they wanted to, so there was no reason they shouldn’t have been able to see quite clearly in the dark as well.

“Oh Kiiiiiiiiingg…” they called in a singsong voice. “Come out, come out whereverrrrr you aaaare…”

They cackled with laughter. 

King pressed further into the recesses at the base of the tree, still not daring to breathe.

“Heeeeeeere little baby Titan-Titan-Titaaaannnnnn! Where aaaaareeee youuuuu? You can’t hide for-everrrrrrr!”

More laughter, this time more unhinged.

King didn’t move a muscle.

The Collector was directly on the other side of the tree now. If they circled around its base, they would see King.

As quietly as possible, he reached down and grasped a small pebble from the soil beneath the roots.

Then, careful not to brush against anything with his arm, King hurled the rock as hard as he could, off into the trees away from him. It made a quiet tic sound in the leaves.

King let himself breathe again as The Collector immediately tensed and turned in the direction of the sound like a wild animal coiling in preparation to spring.

Then…

They held out a hand, making a sudden beckoning motion.

Something tiny flew out of the gloom and into their outstretched hand.

It wasn’t possible to tell for certain, but King had a sinking feeling that said tiny object was the pebble he’d just thrown.

“ Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh .”

In a flash, The Collector moved around the tree and came face-to-face with King, whose hiding place now only served to trap him against the tree roots.

The Collector’s expression lit up and they gave him a wicked grin.

“Caauuuuugt youuuuuuuuu!!!!”

***

In the wake of all that had happened, on a day further in the future when all seemed well and the events surrounding the Day Of Unity had become but a recent memory, Darius Deamonne unlocked the door to a small storage shed and, against his better judgement, removed a small unassuming jar of what appeared to be sand.

He gave it a disgusted look.

“I hope you and your girlfriend know what you’re doing, Raine. Because if this goes wrong…”

He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, relocking the shed behind him and hurrying away, hiding the jar in his robe.

Eberwolf, sitting nearby on lookout duty, gave a nod as he walked past, and followed along behind, no doubt with the same misgivings.

Chapter Text

He’d once been the King Of Demons.

That’s what King had once told everybody. It’s what he himself had once believed.

He was ruthless, fearless, commanded armies, held the fear and respect of his enemies.

He was a terrifying ruler.

He was…

He was cowering as far back against the base of a tree as his little body allowed, while a small child pounced on him.

How, King thought, the mighty had fallen.

Speaking of falling…

The Collector kicked the tree. It would have been barely a tap of their foot, had they been any ordinary child.

It being The Collector, the tree instantly shattered into sawdust and splinters around them.

‘I’m dead,’ King thought.

Except he wasn’t.

He found himself hugged tightly against The Collector’s chest as the tree disintegrated.

He should fight back. That was the brave, powerful response. That’s what the King Of Demons would do.

As it turned out, it seemed the Son Of The Titan would not do this and would instead hang limply in his captor’s grasp and make a rather pathetic sniffling sound.

“Aw, c’mon,” The Collector said. “Don’t be a sore loser. I hate sore losers. I found you fair and square. I’m an even better Titan-finder than those actual Titan hunters back there!”

They pointed further back in the woods, where the rustling and crunching noises grew louder.

“HEY BILL!” they shouted loudly. “TARAK! LOOK WHAT IIIIII FOUUUUUUND!”

“Shut UP, you little twerp!” King hissed.

The Collector ignored him and bounced around happily, destroying every tree in sight, creating a fog of sawdust and woodchips.

King coughed, wincing as The Collector’s fingernails were digging into his scruff as if they were determined to make sure he didn’t run away again.

“Wait,” King said, between coughs. “If you caught me, doesn’t that make ME ‘it’ now? Shouldn’t YOU go and hide, and I try to find you?”

“We’re playing Titan Slayers, goofball,” The Collector said. “YOU’RE the Titan.”

“Well…” King said desperately. “Since…since you found me already, um…I could hide with you! I bet you’re REALLY good at hiding.”

“What’you mean? I’m the BEST at hiding.”

“Well…what if you were on the Titan Team? We could hide together. Doesn’t seem fair or much fun if there’s a whole bunch of Titan Trappers and only one Titan.”

“Hmmmm,” The Collector frowned, considering this. “That’s a good point. Okay, quick! Where’s a good hiding place?”

“Well, we could have hid between any of these trees,” King said. “IF YOU HADN’T JUST EXPLODED THEM ALL!”

The Collector laughed.

“Don’t be silly,” they said. “There’s like a gazillion more trees.”

“Try telling that to the ones you just blew up. And why do I have to choose a hiding place? I thought you said you were the best at hiding.”

“I AM!”

The Collector leaped into the air, waving a hand and raising a thin sheet of mist that hovered a dozen feet or so above the swath of destroyed trees, glittering with tiny stars. It spread in every direction, casting the ground in a surreal and colorful glow.

Bright, glowing crescent moon shapes appeared all across the ground, wherever the trees had been.

The Collector settled themself and King into a floating position within the mist just as the Titan Trappers thundered into the fresh clearing.

“Where is he?” Bill demanded, looking around. “Tarak, I told you. You’re supposed to be my ears here! My echolocation isn’t worth a flip thanks to that monster!”

“The Grand Huntsman was here for sure,” Tarak said. “Only he can smite a forest like this. Look at the trees.”

“There are no trees.”

“Exactly.”

King was not impressed with The Collector’s choice of hiding place. While the star mist surrounded them, it did not completely obscure them from view. They were far , far too exposed and relying entirely on the Titan Trappers not looking up.

The Collector watched the Trappers approach with great interest, crouched around King with their chin resting on his skull, hands folded around his horns. If King hadn’t known better, he would have thought it was almost protective.

As it was, it just reminded him that he had a crack in his skull and it hurt.

“Well, he can’t have gone far,” Bill was saying. “Fan out. The Huntsman is without a doubt testing us, and we must not let him down. Move out! For faith and glory!”

“FOR FAITH AND GLORY!” cheered the other Titan Trappers, following up with a roar that shook the stars within the mist.

King found himself clinging to The Collector’s arm, willing that nobody would look up.

Time felt like it had stopped.

And then, with a dizzying sense of relief, King watched as the Trappers below moved on, and then off into the distance cries of “In the name of the Grand Hunstman!” echoing in their wake.

Laughter began to bubble out of The Collector, their face still close to King.

“They didn’t see us!” they cried gleefully. “We were right there and they didn’t see us! Bill is really bad at this game!”

King choked on an involuntary sob.

“Oh no, don’t cry,” The Collector said and, for the briefest of moments, they looked worried.

King couldn’t stop, unsure whether he was crying in relief, fear or if the events and revelations of the past days and weeks had finally become too much. 

“No!” The Collector said, expression darkening. “We’re supposed to be having fun! Stop that! Stop it! I hate that sound!”

King tried to take a steadying breath, but it didn’t seem to be working, he couldn’t stop the sobs.

It didn’t help that The Collector was now holding him at arm’s length and shaking him, eyes becoming unfocused as they practically screamed at him.

“Shut up!” they cried. “Shut uuuup! Stop it! STOP IT! STOPITSTOPITSTOPITSTOPIT…!”

***

“King?”

King blinked.

“Weh?” he said very quietly.

“King, you’ve been staring at that juice box for about ten minutes,” Willow said.

“You zone out there, buddy?” Gus added.

King shook himself, taking in his present surroundings.

“Eh?” he said. “No. Just thinking about how I would completely crush you with my strategy if I hadn’t landed on Hunter’s super resort development property square.”

Willow, Gus, Amity, Luz and Hunter were all sitting in the Owl House living room, playing a human board game the objective of which seemed to be buying up as much of the board as possible with fake money and using it to financially destroy the other players, thereby “winning”.

King had tried to play, but had gone bankrupt, all of his assets had been seized, and he was now just sitting to the side, observing.

He was pretty sure this particular game had been going off and on for about two days now, and it just wasn’t holding his interest very well anymore.

Luz made a comment about Hunter spontaneously combusting over something happening in the game, causing Amity to laugh loudly and Hunter to loudly assure everyone that he was not going to combust, spontaneously or otherwise, and King hopped off the sofa to wander towards the kitchen.

He’d been needing to talk to Eda, but also avoiding it. While Luz and Hunter had been debating between the two of them who might be causing Eda stress, King had a feeling that it might actually be himself who was the culprit.

After all, there had been a lot left unsaid and unaddressed following the defeat of The Collector.

Come to think of it, King was a bit unclear on the particulars of The Collector’s defeat. He hadn’t exactly been in a state to observe anything at the time. All he knew was that they were gone and nobody seemed to want to discuss it further.

King had asked, once or twice, but the answers he’d gotten were vague, and without detail. Everyone just wanted to forget about it, change the subject and move on to rebuilding from the wreckage that was left on the Boiling Isles.

Eda had once inquired if he still felt any psychic connection to The Collector. And, come to think of it, he’d realized that he no longer did - although when exactly it had disappeared wasn’t a moment he could pinpoint.

King had wanted more than anything to forget everything that had happened, and return to the way things were before, and not think about who he was, or the implications that came with it.

Unfortunately, he was starting to learn that going back wasn’t an option, and pretending it was only made him feel even more disconnected from the past.

Eda was alone in the kitchen, having forgone heading into town to work on creating what King had assumed was a new batch of potions and wards to sell at a later date.

Raine had left early, and this always seemed to put Eda in an antsy mood, as if she expected them to just never return. Probably why she’d thrown herself into whatever craft project was currently happening on the kitchen table.

Upon closer observation, Eda had several small candles set on glyphs around the table, which in turn were heating small dishes of herbal potions simmering on stands above them.

King was pretty sure, as he scrambled onto a chair, that she was creating some sort of ward or protection spell. Without her own magic, she had taken to relying on glyphs and magical ingredients a lot more.

At this particular moment, Eda was crushing up dried fire-sage that Willow had brought, and having a difficult time operating a mortar and pestle one-handed.

Her attempts to stabilize the bowl had, by the look of the objects on the floor below the table, been met by varying degrees of non-success.

Eda swore as the latest mug she was attempting to use to brace the bowl against slid off the table and broke.

King reached out silently and braced it himself.

Eda sighed.

“Thanks, King,” she said.

“You could have asked for a hand with this,” King said, before slapping himself on the forehead. “ECH! That was a really bad choice of words.”

Eda roared with laughter, the stressed look melting off her face.

“Hey,” she said. “If I’m going to have to deal with this,” she waved her stump arm. “Then we all might as well find the humor in it. That was pretty funny, King - gotta’ hand it to you.”

Eda laughed at her own joke, and King did so as well in spite of himself.

“I guess,” he said. “You could say that whatever spell you’re working on right now requires a hands-off approach !”

Their laughter was so uproarious that the kids in the living room all paused to look in the direction of the kitchen.

“I think they’ve lost it,” Amity said.

“Agreed,” Gus said, a bit nervously.

Whatever tension there might have been in the kitchen had faded away and Eda accepted King’s assistance with her project.

“I don’t like asking for help, you know that,” she admitted. “Especially since you all have things you’d rather be doing and don’t need to be worrying about my problems.”

King took a deep breath, preparing to tell Eda that he knew he was probably the biggest of those problems and that the weight of his true identity was no doubt causing her stress, and he was really sorry about it.

But, to his own slight surprise, he didn’t say any of those things.

What actually came out, before he could help himself, was…

“I’m scared, Eda.”

Eda stopped pulverizing the fire-sage and fixed him with a pointed look.

“What?” she asked. “Why?”

“I…” King began, already regretting the way this conversation was going, but somehow unable to stop. “I guess I just never really thought about my future in…in terms of anything further than my…uh, little tyrannical fantasies and such and…and then I found out I was a Titan? The last Titan? What am I supposed to do with that?!?”

He waved his claws at his head.

“Well,” Eda said, setting her hand on his head. “There’s not exactly a guidebook for being a Titan, is there. But for what it’s worth, King, I think you’ve done a truly phenomenal job being a Titan. I’m so, so proud of you.”

“But,” King said. “It’s like now I have this…this thing looming over me. All these expectations I don’t know how to live up to.”

“It does seem a bit unfair,” Eda admitted. “But need I remind you, you single-handedly saved everyone on the Boiling Isles from the Draining Spell. Which, by the way, should never ever have been your responsibility and I’m still salty it ended up falling on you, but regardless…I bet not many Titans ever did something like that at eight years old. So you’ve already surpassed any expectations that you or anyone else might have. You saved all of us.”

“Yeah,” King said, not sounding too happy. “And I let The Collector out to do it. Fixed one problem and caused an even bigger one.”

“Now you listen to me, King,” Eda said in a serious voice. “Releasing The Collector was the right decision, and anyone here who says otherwise still owes their life to the both of you.”

“Huh,” said King, who really hadn’t thought of it in those terms before.

“There’s…” Eda said, taking a deep breath of her own. “King, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

“I’m sorry,” King blurted out. “I know my whole being a Titan thing is weighing on you and…”

“Whoah, hold it,” Eda said. “That’s now what I was going to say at all .”

“But it’s what I was going to say,” King pushed on. “It’s not just the expectations, Eda. I’m not going to be a normal demon with a normal lifespan .”

“Oh…” Eda said, as if she had a good idea where this was going.

“I’m going to be the size of the whole Boiling Isles!” King cried. “I’m going to outlive you and Luz and Hunter and everyone else! Maybe even Hooty!”

“Dooooon’t count on it!” Hooty called.

“HOOTY!” Eda and King shouted in one voice.

“ Geez , just trying to be supportive,” Hooty said. 

Eda turned back to King, who was looking at her imploringly.

“I’ll have to watch all of you die,” he said, tapping his claws together. “And if I make new friends, I’ll have to watch them die too, and on and on and on. There aren’t any more Titans, I’m the last one. I’ll be all alone. In the end I won’t have anybody. It’ll just…be me.”

“Dammit, King,” Eda said, scooping him up, the spell project on the table forgotten. “You shouldn’t have to be thinking about that right now.”

“But it’s true ,” King said, sinking into Eda’s grip. “There’s no escaping it unless Bill goes and starts another Titan Trapper cult…”

“Bill,” Eda said coldly. “Will be doing no such thing ever again.”

“I’m going to become an island corpse somewhere, though.”

“Look, King. I don’t know if I have a magic answer for you. But that’s a long, long, long way in the future. Right now, you’ve still got us. You’ve still got Luz, and you’ve still got me . And I say that you’ve got a lot of childhood left with us before you have to think too much about your future.”

King rested his head on Eda’s shoulder.

“Then why,” he asked. “Can’t I stop thinking about it?”

There were loud shouts from the other room because Gus had apparently landed on the ‘Go To Prison’ space on the boardgame.

Eda held King, tightening her grip as it seemed she always did these days, whispering comfortingly until she felt him relax and fall asleep.

It was only then that she realized she hadn’t actually said what she’d been meaning to tell him.

***

There was still no sign of Belos.

It was the end of a long night of Eda not doing anything but sitting on the floor beside Raine’s cot, stewing over thoughts of revenge on some shadow-form trickster entity and coming up with brutally cutting one-liners she could throw at them before somehow (she didn’t know how yet) tearing them to shreds.

It was better than thinking too hard about what news the scouts might bring with them upon their return.

The CATs had been sending out small groups to survey damage and retrieve the wounded, or those who otherwise needed a place to hide.

On this particular night, a group of scouts had been sent to investigate the rubble that had once been the Skull, putting Eda on edge with thoughts of what they might or might not find.

Her pacing had started to get on everyone’s nerves, so she had retreated to Raine’s side and into vengeful fantasies - somewhere she frequently found herself.

A commotion at the doorway had drawn her with incredible speed, but it turned out to just be the Keeper of the Looking Glass Graveyard, who was incredibly remorseful about abandoning his post.

“Never did I think I would ever have to leave,” he was telling Steve.

“Trust me,” Steve said. “It’s better you hide here than somewhere with that strong of a magical draw.”

“But it’s completely unprotected!” The Keeper said for the fifteenth time.

“But you also said not many people know about it,” Steve pointed out. “So if The Collector doesn’t find it, I doubt anybody will be going there. And, if The Collector does find it, there’s no hope of saving it anyway.”

The Keeper sighed deeply.

“I thought the Looking Glass Graveyard was a myth,” Lilith said to Eda.

“Nah, Gus found it,” Eda pulled a piece of paper out of her hair and handed it to Lilith. “I overheard him telling Luz and Willow and drew a map. Could be useful if we ever need somewhere else to hide.”

Lilith had just stared at the map, fascinated.

Mentioning the kids had only made Eda feel another sickening wave of sadness and anger, and she had sat by Raine’s side, venting and mumbling.

She thought again of the CAT scouts going to the remnants of the Skull.

“I don’t know, Raine,” she said, leaning back against the cot from her seat on the floor. “It’s not like I have any hope of there being survivors after what happened at the Skull. But I’m not sure I’m ready if they find…if they find any actual…”

She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence, and just sighed, burying her face in her hand.

“I should never have let those kids go off to do anything without supervision.”

“...Eda…?”

The voice was quiet, strained. Barely more than a rasp.

Eda scrambled around to see Raine’s eyes open, their head turned toward her.

“ Raine! You’re awake.”

“You’re alive…that’s good. I’m…also alive?…how…?”

Raine shifted around on the cot, groaning as they moved their arm, trying to look at it.

“You’ve still got the coven sigil, if that’s what you’re after,” Eda said.

Raine blinked, gaze unfocused.

“Just relax, Raine. Stop fidgeting. We’re safe for the moment. Kind of.”

“How…” Raine grunted as Eda rubbed their shoulder. “How?...The Draining Spell…Belos won…”

“The moon moved, and Belos hasn’t been seen since the Day Of Unity. It doesn’t make sense. But The Collector entity thing that Belos was working with is loose and wrecking the entire Boiling Isles and the kids…THE KIDS, RAINE! They were in the Skull! And…All my KIDS! I’m going to DESTROY The Collector!”

“Slow down, Eda,” Raine said, as Eda’s grip on their shoulder grew painfully tight.

But it was all too much and Eda collapsed, sobbing, at the side of the cot, while Raine lay confused and unsure why they were even still alive.

“They’re gone. They’re gone , Raine,” Eda managed to get out. “The kids .”

“Oh…Titan…” Raine said, understanding dawning.

Their choice of words did not help Eda at all, as it only brought to mind a small creature she’d taken in and raised, only to have now lost.

Raine’s finally-conscious presence grounded Eda, kept her in place.

The memory of King and of Luz and the incessant pounding of the curse within galvanized her.

Somehow, she would have revenge.

***

King was deep asleep when movement out the window caught Eda’s attention.

With relief, she saw Raine returning with an instrument case slung across their shoulder, which shouldn’t have been much of a surprise.

The fact that they were accompanied by Darius and Eberwolf was a bit more unexpected.

Frowning, she hurried outside to see what they wanted, her swift movement not going unnoticed by the teenagers in the living room.

“There better not be trouble, you three,” she said the moment she was out the door. “King’s sleeping, and I don’t want to wake him up.”

She turned so that King’s sleeping face, still resting on her shoulder, was visible.

Raine grinned and scratched King’s head, causing him to mumble in his sleep, something about it being too early for toast.

Even Darius looked slightly enamored.

“I’ve got to admit,” he said. “You’ve done good with that kid, Eda. The Titan would be proud of you for giving his son such a good upbringing. That’s the only reason I’m okay with this.”

“Aw, you’re just laying it on thick today, Darius,” Eda said. “I”m not complaining, by the way. What’s the occasion?”

“This is a matter of some discretion,” Darius said, looking around with a suspicious expression. “Ideally, this is a private matter. Is there any possibility that we might be overheard?”

“Darius,” Eda said. “I can guarantee you that all of the children in the house are one hundred percent looking out the windows and using invisibility magic to hide it right now.”

Eberwolf gave an amused snort and directed a look at Darius.

“Ah, well,” Darius said. “In that case…”

“HOOT-HOOT!”

Hooty exploded out of the ground.

“Oh, and Hooty’s here too,” Eda said.

“ Nothing gets past meeee!” Hooty said. “Especially such a suspicious gathering in my front yarrrrd! What are you all up tooooo? Hmmmmmm?”

Eberwolf was flat-out laughing now, or at least that’s what it seemed like.

“Eda, your life and your house are complete and total chaos,” Darius said. “Raine is a brave witch to willingly make that a part of their life.”

“Have you met me, Darius?” Raine said, putting an arm around Eda. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Apparently,” Darius said, rolling his eyes.

Eberwolf began chattering loudly.

“What Darius and Eber are trying to say,” Raine said. “Is that we’ve finally acquired…”

“A lute!” Darius said quickly. “And quite a rare one, too!”

“Wait,” Eda said, looking back and forth between the three, whose expressions gave nothing away. “Did you say loot or lute?”

“ Lute ,” Raine said meaningfully, tapping the instrument case on their back and giving Eda a pointed look “Although you could say it was loot if you wanted to.”

“I …have a lute already,” Eda said, trying to decipher what was being said - or, rather, what wasn’t being said. “I can’t exactly play it anymore. For several reasons.”

“This one,” Darius began. “Is, shall we say, very much in need of repair. And, personally, I think it should stay that way. But it seems that you two,” he gestured dramatically at Eda and Raine. “Have some utterly deluded need to fix it.”

“Wait,” Eda said, suddenly cluing in and noting how carefully Raine seemed to be carrying the case. “Is that… no …really?”

Eberwolf squawked and nodded vigorously.

“ Oh ,” Eda said. 

“I cannot believe I agreed to this,” Darius said. “And I’ve urged Raine to reconsider a hundred times, but they seem to be as determined to go through with it as you are, so I know it’s pointless for me to argue. But , in the interest of everyone , I would like to make a stipulation.”

Eda narrowed her eyes.

“And what’s that?” she asked.

“I would request ,” Darius said. “That you do not take the instrument out of its case.”

“ Excuse me?” Eda snapped.

“Open it, by all means,” Darius said, raising his palms at the look she gave him. “Titan knows, it’s probably far too quiet in your house and you need more noise. Make whatever mends you need to do. But leave it physically where it is , if you catch my drift.”

“Ohhhh,” Eda said, understanding but making no further comment.

Hooty said nothing but seemed to be concentrating very hard on trying to understand the conversation.

“You’re not going to give me your word, are you,” Darius said in frustration.

Eberwolf shrugged at him as if to convey ‘Well, what did you expect ?’

“Darius has a point,” Raine said. “This isn’t a personal thing, it’s a safety precaution. You know as well as anybody the damage an…uncased…an uncased lute …”

They were laughing too hard to complete the sentence.

Eberwolf snorted again.

“I’ve told you, Darius,” Raine said, once they had somewhat recovered. “Eda and I know the risks of…”

“Looting,” Eda said.

Raine dissolved into laughter again.

“Lucky for you, I’m an expert in looting,” Eda went on. “I didn’t set out to be, but it turns out I’m just naturally good at it.”

“Stopppppp!” Raine managed, while Hooty joined in on the laughter.

Eberwolf let out a piercing screech.

It was enough to silence everybody.

“Just…” Darius said. “This concerns more than your immediate family. Please don’t forget that.”

Eberwolf made a motion with their hands reminiscent of an explosion.

“Music,” Darius said carefully. “Carries.”

“I know,” Raine said, smirking. “I was head of the Bard Coven.”

“Well now ,” Eda said. “It would seem you’re all head of the Metaphorical Coven! Hah!”

“Oh good Titan,” Darius muttered.

“ Shhhhh! He’s asleep, Darius. You’ll wake him up.”

King, to his credit, was still deep asleep.

“This is pointless,” Darius said. “Raine, please keep your girlfriend in line. I can’t believe you actually want to add to the chaos of this place.”

“Believe it or not, we do understand the gravity of the situation,” Raine said.

“Then carry on,” Darius said. “Oh, but one more thing. For the love of both our Titan and your baby one, keep that thing away from Hunter.”

Chapter Text

“What was that about?”

Gus waved his hands as he spoke, dispelling the illusion of an empty window as he stepped away.

Luz took a gasping breath and popped back into a state of visibility.

Around the room, the rest of the group appeared, dropping various spells and illusions.

“Darius didn’t even ask if I was here,” Hunter said. “He must be really worried about what’s in that case.”

“We’re all in agreement, then?” Amity said. “Whatever is in that case is not a musical instrument?”

“Yeah,” Luz said. “They couldn’t have made that more obvious if they tried.”

“Any idea what it might be?” Willow asked. “It seems really weird that Eda would be keeping a big secret from us.”

“Well she has been preoccupied as of late,” Hunter said. “Even King’s noticed.”

“Now that you mention it,” Willow said. “I did kind of wonder why she needed so much fire-sage.”

“Fire-sage?” Hunter said. “That’s not a typical household herb. I’ve only ever heard of it being used in really powerful rituals.”

“It was really fun to grow,” Willow said. “You do NOT want to piss it off. It bites and stings.”

“Right,” Gus said. “Fun.”

“I like sassy plants, what can I say,” Willow said with a shrug. She grinned at Hunter. “And yes, I do count you among them.”

Hunter’s expression turned red and imploded.

“ Gwagh ,” he said, while Luz roared with laughter and Amity snorted.

Gus rolled his eyes.

“I’m not even going to comment on that,” he said.

“Anyway,” Willow continued, patting Hunter’s back as he appeared to now be having a coughing fit. “I asked Eda why she would even need fire-sage, never mind such a large amount, and she said it was because she has to use more potent ingredients to make up for losing her own magic.”

“I mean,” Amity said. “That’s fair. But what’s she using it in? Potions? There can’t be that high a demand for fire-sage potion.”

“She said it was for protection wards,” Willow said.

“But even so, Amity’s right,” Gus said. “Why would anyone buy it?”

“Actually,” Luz said. “It kiiiiind of makes sense. Eda’s exploiting the market.”

“The market for what?” Gus demanded.

“Everyone’s a little on edge,” Luz said. “They won’t all admit it, but they are. After everything? Not that hard to convince them to buy a supercharged fire-sage ward just in case.”

“Yeah, that is a little exploitative,” Amity muttered.

“In case what ?” Hunter asked, able to speak again but his voice still sounding strained. “In case Belos comes back? He literally exploded. In case The Collector pops up again? Darius told me what happened. They’re not coming back either.”

Luz’s eyes widened and a look of dawning horror crossed her face as she slapped her forehead.

“Oh snap!” she said. “The book !”

“The book?” Amity asked. “What book?”

“Nuuhhhh…Not important! Never mind!”

“Never mind and you’re acting like that ?” Gus said suspiciously.

“Ohhhhh,” Luz said. “I should have known .”

“Just tell us already!” Hunter said.

“Mmmmmm, no, I might be wrong. Eda just needs fire-sage to…to line the walls or something! This isn’t suspicious! We’re all paranoid!”

***

“Are you sure this is a good hiding place? It looks kind of boring.”

The interior of the deserted Owl House looked admittedly dismal in the moonlight, without any of the familiar furniture and contents.

“It’s a great hiding place,” King told The Collector. “I know all the rooms and hallways better than anyone seeking us. And the bridge to Titan Trapper Island is right outside. They won’t expect us to hide so close to it.”

The Collector shut the door behind them with a flick of their hand, a glowing crescent moon with sunrays appearing in the space once occupied by Hooty.

“Boy, you sure like this old place, huh,” they said. “You keep wanting to come back here.”

“This was my home,” King said, too tired to invent anything else. “I used to live here with Eda and Hooty and Luz.”

“Luz? That human? Who’s Eda?”

“Eda the Owl Lady,” King sighed. “This is the Owl House.”

“You never did tell me how to play Owl House,” The Collector said, their voice sounding a little sullen.

“It’s not any fun without Hooty, Luz and Eda,” King said, forgetting to be careful with his words. “I…miss them. I miss Eda…I was almost hoping she’d be here.”

King was getting dangerously close to tears again, and he took a deep breath. The Collector’s reaction to him crying earlier had been nothing short of terrifying.

“Why’s she called the Owl Lady, anyway?” The Collector asked, toeing a hallway door back and forth without touching it.

“Because she can turn into an Owl Beast,” King said, pushing open the door to what had once been Luz’s room, and finding it as depressingly empty as the rest of the house.

“ Hmmmmmmm! ” The Collector said, seeming far more interested than King had expected.

“She’s my adopted Mom,” King continued, leaving Luz’s room with the thought that he’d really just been on his way to Eda’s loft anyway.

The Collector followed, running their hands along the walls curiously.

“This place would make a good fort,” they said. “Change it up just a bit, add a few more death traps! We could trap the Titan Trappers!”

“Hooty would like that.”

“Hooty again. Who’s this Hooty?”

“Our House Demon. He protected the house, but also kind of was the house. It’s hard to explain.”

“Not really. We need a lookout. We should go get this Hooty. He sounds fun.”

King trudged into Eda’s room and found, to his surprise that, along with a few pieces of trash scattered on the floor, her nest was still there. Apparently none of the Coven Scouts had seen it necessary to remove it.

King crawled into the nest, happy to discover that it still contained a huge, fuzzy blanket, and collapsed, exhausted.

“What’cha’ doin’?” The Collector asked, leaning over the side.

“Nappy time,” King murmured, only half awake anymore.

“Awww, but we just started playing.”

“That was days ago, Collector. Hard to sleep when you’re swinging me around like a stuffed toy and chasing me down with your death cult.”

The Collector laughed.

“Oh shut up,” King said, keeping his eyes tightly closed.

“But I wanna’ playyyyyyyyy!” The Collector whined.

“Well I need to sleep. Won’t be able to play at all otherwise. We’re not all perpetually wound-up gods. You…could rest too if you wanted.”

The Collector actually shuddered.

“I don’t sleep,” they said.

“Well what do you do if you’re tired?”

“I’m never tired.”

“Well I am. Good night.”

King was asleep almost instantly.

The Collector frowned, and then reached into the nest and poked him.

“Hey!” King protested.

The Collector’s expression lit up and they grinned.

King turned away and went back to sleep.

The Collector looked around the quiet, darkened loft, then back at King.

They poked at him again.

“Go away! ” King said, slapping their hand out of the way. “Let sleeping Titans lie. ”

“But I’m booooooored.”

“Well then you can be the lookout you said we needed. Keep watch in case the Titan Trappers show up.”

“Okay!” The Collector said brightly.

It surprised King that they’d agreed so fast, but he was just grateful for the chance to rest undisturbed when they floated away to the window. 

He was back to sleep in seconds.

The Collector stretched out along the curved surface of the circular windowsill, motioning for the stained glass window itself to swing open.

It let in a sliver of moonlight from outside, illuminating the space where they lay.

They kicked their shoes off and ran their feet along the surface of the windowsill as they stretched their legs, enjoying the sensations that came with being back in the physical realm.

The Collector kicked back in the sliver of moonlight and watched out the window intently for any sign of Bill, Tarak and the rest of their Titan Trapper playmates.

***

Raine set the lute case down gently on the kitchen table.

“Funny,” they said. “Usually it’s me who has your full attention.”

Eda looked up, having been staring at the case as if expecting it to do a trick that she might miss if she blinked.

She met Raine’s surprisingly playful gaze and blushed.

Raine gave her an amused look and opened the case, revealing…

“Oh hey, look,” Eda said. “It actually is a lute.”

“Can’t be too careful,” Raine said, pulling the strings aside and reaching into the instrument to retrieve something wrapped in heavy grey cloth.

They held it out to Eda.

“No,” she said. “I’ll drop it.”

“No you won’t,” Raine said, unwrapping the cloth and pressing the glass jar within into Eda’s hand.

Eda stared at the jar, holding it tightly, still afraid she might lose her grip.

“That’s it, huh,” she said.

The contents of the jar, to most observers who wouldn’t have given it a second look, could have easily been mistaken for sand.

However, Eda did give it a second look, holding it up to the kitchen window where the late evening sun played off the grainy material, giving it an almost luminous appearance. Dozens of tiny reflected points of light covered nearly every surface of the kitchen.

“Whoah,” Luz said, entering the kitchen at just the right moment to witness the spectacle. “Whatcha’ got there, Eda? Disco sand?”

She looked between Eda, Raine, the jar and the lute on the table.

“Did someone say diiiscooooooo?” Hooty said, appearing in the kitchen behind Luz. “Let me get my sunglasses .”

“Wait,” Luz said, turning to Hooty. “How do you know about disco?”

“I’lll never tell!”

“But seriously,” Luz said, turning back to fix Eda with a meaningful look. “Did you just get a covert delivery of magic sand hidden inside a musical instrument? Gotta’ admit, that’s a liiiitle suspicious, Eda. There something you want to share with the rest of the class? Hmmmmmm?”

“Sounds to me,” Eda said. “Like you already know what it is.”

“Darius is losing his edge,” Luz said. “That whole ‘leave it in the case’ business? Not very subtle.”

“Well that was supposed to be a private conversation,” Raine said with a smile.

Luz stared at the jar, really looking at it this time.

“You’re actually going to go through with this,” she said. It wasn’t a question.

“It was never a question, Luz,” Eda said. She watched as the reflections danced across her hand, illuminating scars that resembled claw marks. “I made a promise, and I intend to make good on it.”

“I can respect thaaaaat,” Hooty said. “Can you promise meeee something?”

“You realize this could go really bad if you…if you misjudged…”

“Hence Darius’s stipulation,” Raine said. “If we stick to that, it should be perfectly safe.”

“Yeah, you’re going to stick to that for, like, five minutes,” Luz said.

Eda laughed and Raine shot an amused and knowing look at her.

“We’ll see,” they said.

“Look, Eda,” Luz said. “It’s not that I don’t trust you on this. But the fact that you’re keeping it a secret from us? Why?”

“Well it’s not exactly a secret, since you know,” Eda said.

“Have you told King?”

Eda wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“That’s what I thought.”

“IIIIIIIII can keep a secret!” Hooty said mysteriously and it wasn’t entirely clear whether this meant he already knew what was going on, but it seemed a safe bet that he very well might.

“Ah, kid,” Eda said, setting the jar on the kitchen windowsill. “I never meant for it to be a big secret. I wasn’t even sure we’d get this far. By the time stuff was in motion, oh it’s just never felt like the right moment to bring it up.”

“Well maybe,” Luz pushed back. “You could have clued me in when you requested that book.”

Eda snorted. “Smart kid.”

“Well,” Raine said. “You’ve never really talked about what happened.”

Luz winced.

“Okay, you’re right,” she admitted. “I’ve…been avoiding that subject.”

***

Filling Raine in on the details of everything that had happened since the Day Of Unity had taken quite an emotional toll on Eda, moreso than she’d anticipated.

Raine had quietly listened, offering support where they could, wishing desperately that things had turned out differently.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate you saving my life more than words can say,” Eda admitted. “I just don’t know what kind of life I’ve got left in this world.”

“Well you’ve got me ,” Raine said.

Eda looked at them and burst into tears.

Raine held her for a long time after that, reassuring her for whatever it might be worth, that they weren’t going anywhere. Not this time.

A great commotion at the door of the base alerted them both that the expected group of scouts had returned from their investigation of the Skull rubble.

Raine felt Eda tense in their arms.

Then, a commanding, familiar voice rang loudly through the building.

“I DEMAND ASYLUM!”

It was Raine’s turn for alarm.

“ Kikimora !” they hissed, trying to climb to their feet.

Eda’s eyes flashed furiously as she stood up.

“I HAVE INFORMATION!” Kikimora’s voice continued to shout. “And you will have my full cooperation in exchange for my protection.”

“That little conniving trash slug !” Eda growled. “Wait, I take that back. That’s an insult to trash slugs.”

“Nothing good can come of Kiki being here,” Raine agreed.

Eda stormed out onto the open section of the warehouse, just in time to see Lilith striding across to dropkick Kikimora across the floor.

“WOOOOOO!” Eda screamed, feeling like herself for one brief second. “GO LILY!”

Kikimora screeched, sitting up shakily where she had landed.

“Lilith!” Darius admonished. “Kikimora is injured .”

“ Yeah she is!” Eda said.

“That felt good,” said Lilith. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“Haven’t we all,” Darius said. “But the fact remains, she was injured before you kicked her, Lilith. Our scouts found her trapped in debris from the Skull and she claims to have important information.”

“Well I’m going to kick her too, anyway,” Eda said. “Being lenient isn’t the only way to get info and I’m not about to let Lily have all the fun. My turn!”

“No, are you listening to me?” Darius said, holding both Lilith and Eda in place with abomination material. “We’re above that. Steve! Go pick up that sorry excuse for a demon and let’s get her patched up. Emira! We need your healing skills.”

“Ugh, why me?” Steve asked. 

Emira wrinkled her nose.

“Ew,” she said. “Not what I signed up for.”

Despite his protests, however, Steve wasted little time in retrieving Kikimora.

Up close, Eda could see that she had sustained a number of pretty significant injuries that clearly hadn’t resulted from being kicked by Lilith.

“If the Clawthorne sisters are very much done with their theatrics,” Kikimora said. “They might be interested to hear what I have to say.”

“You were in the skull, were you not,” Darius said. “At the Day Of Unity?”

“I was,” Kikimora said. “Deceived and betrayed by Belos, just like the rest of you. How could we ever have known his true plans.”

Eda and Lilith snorted in unison.

“Where is Belos?” Steve asked.

“Belos is almost certainly dead,” Kikmora said, looking amused by the gasps and whispers this statement brought. “Murdered by The Collector.”

Even more hushed exclamations broke out. Apparently reshaping the Isles was one thing. Taking out the seemingly-invincible Emperor was another.

“And one other thing,” Kikimora said. “This concerns you, Owl Lady.”

Eda just growled, masking her fear of what was about to be said next.

“The Owl Lady would do well to cooperate with me in my new noble quest to redeem myself by hunting down The Collector. He has taken prisoner someone very close to her.”

“Wait,” Eda said. “What? Who? ”

“He has King, child son of the Titan himself in his dastardly clutches.”

“Child son of…WHAT?!” Darius exploded.

“How in BLAZES do you know…?” Eda shouted. “Wait, he’s alive? King’s alive ?”

“Your pet demon …” Darius sputtered. “Is the Titan’s Son ?”

“Yeah,” Eda said. “I…uh…forgot to mention.”

“That little…that was a Titan ?”

“If you’ve quite finished,” Kikimora said huffily. “Then you see how working together is mutually beneficial. I want justice served by confronting The Collector myself. The Owl Lady wants King the Titan rescued. We find The Collector, we find King.”

“Yeah, you’re gonna’ have to give me more than that,” Eda said. “Your word alone isn’t worth squat, offense fully intended.”

“Oh but I have more than my word alone, Owl Lady.”

Eda was about to remark that she was keeping a running tally of the number of times Kikimora said “Owl Lady”, but the comment died in her throat when the demon in question held out her hand.

Eda felt like she had been gut-punched, immediately recognizing the item clutched in Kikimora’s fist.

It was the familiar collar that had once been worn by King.

***

The Collector quickly grew bored with watching out the window for seekers that probably didn’t know where to look.

They bit their lip, tapped their fingernails together, bobbed their head a bit, clicked their tongue a few times and then tumbled off the window ledge and onto the ceiling with a soft thump.

“Hmmmmmm…”

King was still sleeping in the nest below and looking extremely comfortable to the point where The Collector was annoyed that he might be having more fun than they were.

No fair.

They rolled around on the ceiling and kicked their legs.

They looked around the dark room, the walls and silence around them suddenly feeling oppressive in a horribly familiar way…

A tight feeling threatened to rise in The Collector’s chest.

No.

No, they were free now.

They clapped their hands.

From the sound waves there came an explosion of light, spinning itself into dozens upon dozens of tiny stars swirling around them in bright, colorful patterns, forming galaxies above a sleeping King.

The stars filled the room with a soft glow.

Much better.

In the corner of the room, the light reflected off something shiny that drew The Collector’s immediate attention, as it appeared to be in the shape of a crescent moon. That had to be investigated right now!

They floated down to the floor to take a closer look.

Upon inspection, the moon was one of several ornate carvings on what looked to have once been a tiny but beautiful wooden box. It was smashed up and dirty now - easy to overlook as trash and not something the Coven scouts would have payed much attention to.

The starlight was actually reflecting off a series of metal gears inside that were also smashed and broken. Most who looked at it would have dismissed the entire thing as beyond repair.

But The Collector was bored and the box looked interesting. It was either this or blow up one of the rooms in the house.

They made a counterclockwise motion with their hand and the gears shifted back into place. They pinched their fingers together and the cracks and breaks in the box disappeared. 

Curiously, they picked up the object and floated to the center of the room. They momentarily considered dropping it on King’s head, but changed their mind at the last second and instead flopped face-first into the nest beside King.

It was…surprisingly comfortable.

They lay on their chest and examined the box. Next to the initials DC, there was some sort of wind-up mechanism, which promised to be interesting - at least for a moment.

Upon being wound, the gears inside the box began to play a bright tune. It wasn’t one The Collector recognized, not that they would have recognized most music, but it was just the right tempo and they liked it.

With the music box jingling in front of their nose, they turned their attention back to the large nest they were in.

How was this nest so…soft…

They rubbed their feet against the blanket and pressed their cheek into it contentedly.

It was warm. They needed to be closer to it.

The Collector sighed heavily, blinking slowly at the cheerfully-playing music box.

They were warm and cozy now.

They were free. Finally, finally free.

After so, SO long.

The nest was SO soft…

They could just melt into it…

It was…

…it was fuzzy…

…everything was warm and fuzzy…

…they were so comfy…

…cozy…

…free…

…safe…

And as the stars they had just created burned out above and a long broken music box played out a tune not heard for years, for the first time in a very, very long time, The Collector slept.

And for the first time since the Day Of Unity, a strange, still peace fell over the Boiling Isles.

Chapter Text

Bonesborough looked remarkably different than it had before the Day Of Unity, to the point where it was virtually unrecognizable as the same location.

There was, of course, the matter of the towering Bridge to Titan Trapper Island, which had since been rendered impassable but still served as a reminder of what had transpired. 

If the great, looming monolith wasn’t jarring enough, the topography of the town had completely changed as well. It was now a mess of steep hills and ravines left from where The Collector had gathered their materials to build the Bridge.

Even Eda had to use a crudely-drawn map to find her way around while she was getting accustomed to the new layout.

“Let’s see, this giant pit is approximately where Reedgut Street would have been,” she mused. “Which means that way should be where Morton is setting up these days.”

Luz looked at the map and scratched her head.

On Eda’s other side, another Luz did the same.

Vee had chosen to come along today with Eda, Luz, Hunter and Raine, in order to restock on magical items to bring back to the human realm, where she was still covering for Luz’s extended absences. It was something Camilla tolerated for the sake of both Vee and Luz, but Eda could definitely sense the tension. 

Vee, like Hunter and Luz, was torn between two worlds. She’d made it pretty clear that the Boiling Isles didn’t feel like home to her, and she had a stronger connection to the human friends she’d made at Camp than she did with witches and demons.

However she had grown to consider Luz and her friends as extended family, and she needed to consume magic.

“Not that it isn’t obvious who’s who,” Eda said. “But you’re free to be yourself in New Bonesborough, Vee.”

“You sure about that?” Vee asked, pointing across a narrow fissure in the earth, at a cobbled-together clothing shop with not-inconspicuous sign reading ‘We stand with Belos.’

“Aw, what?” Eda said, reading the sign and then shouting across the fissure. “BELOS WAS A LYING DICTATOR WHO TRIED TO MURDER YOU ALL! JUST IN CASE YOU FORGOT!”

“Eda, keep your voice down ,” Hunter said through clenched teeth, eyeing the shop warily as the witch running it glared daggers at them.

“Why would anyone still be loyal to Belos?” Luz asked. “His whole evil backstory isn’t exactly a secret anymore.”

“Yes, it is kind of worrisome,” Raine said, shooting the sign a dirty look of their own. “We’ve been seeing a bit of it cropping up here and there. Seems old systems die slower than old tyrants.”

“Well, let’s make some sales,” Eda said, holding up strings of potions, wards and human realm trinkets. “Before the system really does crash and everyone realizes snails aren’t actually worth anything anymore.”

“Darius says the future of society lies in trades, rather than currency,” Hunter said. “And, if you look at it historically, trade used to be accepted as…”

“Says the guy who wins Asset Seizure: The Board Game , like every time!” Luz said.

“That’s a mental challenge,” Hunter said. “It’s not a model for real life.”

“Tell that to half the people in power ever,” Luz shot back.

“And that’s why I don’t feel very comfortable here,” Vee said. “There’s too much unrest in this whole rebuilding stuff, and it wouldn’t take much for someone to get made a scapegoat and targeted as everyone’s problem.”

“No offense, Vee,” Luz said. “But out of all of us right here, you’re probably the least likely to be a target.”

“Heck, I’ve always been a target,” Eda said. 

“Yeah, well you weren’t sentient life created for Belos’ experiments! ” Vee said angrily. “If I could just turn into a human permanently and never have to rely on magic again, I’d leave this place forever . You never forget what it’s like to be trapped .”

***

King awoke with a pounding headache. It took him a minute to remember that he was in Eda’s nest, and another minute to remember why.

When he did, he wished he hadn’t. It wasn’t a pleasant flood of memories.

Reality came back in a sickening wave and King thought for a second that he might puke.

He groaned, sat up, groaned again.

And then he blinked.

The Collector was next to him in the nest, lying on their stomach, frowning slightly, arms and legs stretched out in every direction as if trying to touch as much of the space around them as possible. 

They were, unbelievably, fast asleep.

“Well this is new,” King said quietly.

It occurred to him that this might be his chance to escape, although he really didn’t want to leave the Owl House.

He very cautiously stood up and, careful to not make a sound, made to climb out of the nest.

“Stop!”

King froze, turning back, expecting to find The Collector wide awake.

Instead, he saw that they were still asleep, although their expression was anything but peaceful.

They whimpered, clawing at the blanket.

“Nononononono! Stop! Stop !” they cried.

The walls of the house itself shook.

“Aw no,” King said, suddenly feeling concerned in spite of himself.

He watched as The Collector’s frown deepened and they reached out their hands desperately.

King backed away and The Collector actually wailed, tears leaking out of the corners of their eyes when their hands closed on empty air.

“Nonono! Wait! Please!”

Their eyes flew open and they sat up, screaming.

The house rattled.

They stared at King in confusion for a moment, their expression terrified.

It wasn’t a look that King had ever seen on The Collector’s face before, nor had he expected to.

“Uh…you okay there buddy?” he asked.

The Collector blinked at him, perhaps going through the same process of recalling where they were that King had just experienced.

“King,” they said. “You…you…YOU LET ME FALL ASLEEP!”

The Collector’s mood went from scared to infuriated in a split second.

“Hey, that is not on me!” King said. “You fell asleep yourself. I told you to keep a lookout.”

“ You shouldn’t have needed to go to sleep in the first place !”

“Can you go five seconds without yelling!” 

King rubbed at the crack in his skull. The sleep had been needed but he somehow felt even worse than he had before his nap.

“Just…leave me alone,” he said.

“NO!” The Collector said. “We’re going to play now, and we’re going to have fun .”

“Well you sure are a whole pile of fun when you first wake up,” King said sarcastically.

The Collector turned their attention to the music box still lying in the nest.

“That music made me sleep!” they shouted, grabbing the box and preparing to hurl it into oblivion.

There was the faint sound of a door creak from downstairs.

The Collector and King both froze, turning to look at each other.

The Collector’s eyes lit up, their troubled expression vanishing instantly.

“Looks like weee’ve got comp-a-nyyyyyyyy!” they said, their voice singsong once again, their nightmares apparently forgotten, at least for now.

King’s head spun from The Collector’s mood whiplash. The momentary concern he had felt for them took a backseat, overpowered significantly by the more pressing concern of his own safety.

Plus, it was hard to feel bad for The Collector, when they were currently hugging themself and cackling gleefully (and far too loudly) over the prospect of being back to actively playing their demented games.

***

Eda really needed to have a talk with Luz about her having introduced Hunter to coffee.

To be fair, it had happened while the kids were in the human realm, and had probably helped Hunter focus while they were researching ways to cross dimensions and defeat The Collector.

Still, the coffee had now become a regular thing, and even at the sales kiosk they were running in Bonesborough, Hunter had a percolator hooked up to a battery pack and was already on his third cup.

It was not, Eda observed, doing wonders to help with Hunter’s anxieties.

“You know what she’s up to! I know you do!” Hunter was saying to Luz in what was probably meant to be a quiet hiss, but was actually quite audible to anyone else who happened to be in the vicinity.

“Hunter,” Luz said. “Keep your voice down!”

The two had started their bickering practically the moment that Vee had snuck off to acquire the most powerful magical objects she could afford.

“I am keeping it down!” Hunter said. “That’s why I’m whispering !”

“Dude. They can hear you whispering in space !”

“No, they can’t! We don’t have space in the demon realm…”

“It’s firmament, I know, I know,” Luz finished. “Same difference, different word.”

“It’s really not,” Hunter said. “And anyway, stop changing the subject. You know what Eda is up to. That’s pretty clear. What I don’t know is why you won’t tell me!”

“Because it’s not for me to tell!” Luz snapped.

“You told Amity.”

That shut Luz up.

Eda sighed, leaving Raine to try to sell toaster ovens to an unimpressed-looking group of demons, and walked over to the table where Luz and Hunter were seated.

“First of all,” she said. “That is WAY too much coffee for you. Second of all, you’re not wrong, Hunter. I am,” her voice turned teasing. “ Up to something .”

Hunter gave her a worried look. 

“I didn’t…” Eda began. “I didn’t think it was going to get blown up into this…” she waved her hand. “ Huge Mysterious Secret . Not from my family. Not from you. You’ve had too many secrets kept from you and I never wanted to add to that.”

“Whatever it is, you don’t think I’m going to like it,” Hunter said. “I think that’s actually why Luz won’t tell me.”

“Well, I don’t really know,” Eda said. “It’s not necessarily going to make our lives any easier. Not for a while, anyways. But I suppose I should tell you. Just not here. When we get home.”

“There won’t be time!” Hunter protested. “Darius is picking me up to go camping in like, an hour!”

“Whoah, whos’ keeping secrets now! Wait. Wait. ” Eda’s expression became one of pure mirth. “ Darius is going camping?!? Hah!! Raine, are you hearing this?!”

“He wanted to do some one-on-one mentoring while I was visiting,” Hunter said. “And I suggested camping. I’ve been wanting to try it out ever since I got those Scouts handbooks in Connecticut.”

“Weren’t you technically camping when you were hiding out from Belos at Hexside?” Luz asked.

“ That doesn’t count. I’ve been studying both the Girl Scout manuals and the Boy Scout manuals and with the combined knowledge from both resources, we should be assured successful camping with all of our bases covered!”

“Forget Eda’s wacky plans!” Luz said. “I’m just going to follow you two along and take covert video footage of your fiasco.”

“Hunter!” Raine called. “Please share everything that happens on Penstagram! The entertainment value alone might actually get me through my next meeting with the other Coven Heads without my having to resort to murder!”

Hunter looked down, a bit dejectedly.

“Oh crap,” Raine said, realizing their misstep.

“Why does everybody think this is going to be a disaster?” Hunter asked.

“Oh it’s not you, kid,” Eda said, leaning over and wrapping her arm around Hunter. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for on my part. Darius just doesn’t seem like somebody I’d expect to enjoy camping. For what it’s worth, I’m sure you’ll do just fine. But maybe use your eyes and ears and common sense and not get too hung up on following the Scout books to the letter. Real life doesn’t come with a handbook.”

Hunter, as was typical, looked a bit unsure how to react to the affection, but was not about to protest.

“ Well, for what it’s worth for you ,” he said. “I’m sure you know what you’re doing but maybe you could use a few resources to go on. Instead of making it up as you go.”

“I’m afraid there is no resource for what I’m working on,” Eda said. “Nobody’s exactly done this before. There is no resource. I have to make it up as I go.”

“Well, you’ve gotten this far and survived,” Hunter said. “I’m sure you’ll figure out whatever secret scheme you’re cooking up. And I…I trust you. I won’t pressure you for more info.”

“Pressure me for more info?” Eda laughed. “Careful, kid. Your Golden Guard is showing.”

“Force of habit,” Hunter said. “I have ways of making you talk.”

“Yeah you do!” Eda laughed. “All you have to do is sit there looking worried and I’ll talk to you and ask if you’re okay!”

Hunter smiled in spite of himself.

“You be careful out there,” Eda said. “I hear the campgrounds are filled with bugs.”

The following hour passed in a companionable blur of sales, trades and banter. Hunter seemed a bit more relaxed now, although still overly caffeinated and very excited about his upcoming trip.

Vee returned, eating what looked like a possibly-blood-covered ice cream cone.

“It’s super potent!” she told Hunter and Luz. “I’ve eaten three already! I feel great! You want some?”

“Uh…no,” Luz said. “More for you. Wow you’re actually shaking. Is that like caffeine for basilisks? Because you remind me of Hunter on his eighth pot of coffee.”

“I have never,” Hunter said, sounding offended. “Downed eight entire pots of coffee in one day…”

“So Darius wants some bonding time, huh,” Raine said to Eda in a low voice. “That I’ll buy. But I can’t help thinking…”

“That he wants Hunter out of dodge for the waxing moon?” Eda finished.

“Yep,” Raine said. “Exactly.”

***

Eda had not agreed to any of Kikimora’s propositions for hunting down The Collector.

Being presented with King’s collar had definitely not made her any more inclined to do so.

“This proves nothing !” she said, shaking the collar in Kikimora’s face. “For all I know, you took it off his dead body! For all I know, you killed him.”

“I can assure you,” Kikimora said. “I did neither of those things, and you’re only lessening the likelihood of saving your precious King with each passing moment you refuse to cooperate with me. The Collector has him captive , Owl Lady. He won’t survive much longer. Your pride is killing your adopted son.”

“Well your whining is killing me ,” Eda shot back.

And, with that, she stormed away.

“It’s not that I don’t share your sentiment, Edalyn,” Lilith said a short while later. “But what if…what if she’s right?”

It was certainly a possibility that Eda couldn’t help but consider, though she almost didn’t dare give herself hope that King had somehow survived.

Still, the idea was planted.

And so, when Eda and Lilith’s parents arrived at the CAT stronghold not an hour later and, after a tearful reunion, informed her that they’d seen light coming from her house just that evening, Eda took notice.

“We thought you might be there,” Gwendolyn said. “But then we saw the crescent moon on the door and thought it might be The Collector there.”

“What in Titan’s name would the Collector be doing there?” Lilith asked.

“No idea,” Gwendolyn said. “I’m just telling you what we saw.”

“I also thought I heard your old music box playing,” Dell said. “The lullaby one I made when you were little.”

“What?” Eda said. “That old thing hasn’t worked in years. Decades maybe. I…might have broken it one time when I was in curse form.”

The conversation moved on, but Eda’s mind was already racing.

And so, shortly thereafter, when she thought nobody was paying attention, Eda found herself sneaking out of the base under cover of night and taking flight, Owlbert at the head of her staff.

It was her first time out flying since losing her arm, and she had to admit that did rather complicate matters. There was quite a learning curve, and setting off on such a long venture probably wasn’t the easiest way to tackle it.

As it was, that only made her more determined.

Her progress wasn’t fast, but it was progress nonetheless. 

Was there really someone at her house? Surely not The Collector. That didn’t make any sense. They’d undoubtedly be out and about causing chaos and blowing things up, not sitting in her house with a music box that wasn’t even supposed to work.

Unless…

Unless Kikimora was right about King somehow still being alive and he’d somehow made his way back home.

Even if Kikimora was right, however, why would The Collector take their prisoner to his old home?

It was a long shot, Eda knew. Logically it was more likely some random person taking refuge in what was an available empty building.

But she had to check.

She had to be sure.

Bonesborough was a mess, and shadowed by an imposing-looking monolithic reaching far into the sky. It gave Eda an extremely unsettled feeling, something she distantly noted was shared by the Owl Beast.

Eda landed in the remaining trees and entered the yard in the early light of dawn. The Beast’s uneasiness went from low-grade to off-the-charts upon noticing that a crescent moon sliver really was glowing along the edge of Hooty’s usual place of residence.

It would seem The Collector really was here.

But why?

“If you wanna’ get outta’ here,” she whispered to Owlbert while pulling an elixir out of her hair in case she needed to tone down the Owl Beast, which was starting to panic. “I’ll one hundred percent understand.”

Owlbert hooted that he would do no such thing and interlocked himself firmly on Eda’s staff.

With the distant thought that she really should have thought exactly how she might fight a chaotic shadow-monster (a sentiment shared by the Owl Beast, who clearly did not want to be here), Eda went to silently push open the door.

Only it wasn’t silent. 

It made a horrible creaking sound that could probably be heard miles away.

Eda grimaced, stepping into the house, flooded with memories, heartsick to see how empty it was now. It was barely a shell of the lively and cozy safe haven it had once been.

And then, from upstairs, laughter rang out and Eda felt her whole body tense up.

She didn’t need the Owl Beast’s panicked confirmations to immediately recognize the laugh as the same one she had heard in her dream, and the same one carried on the wind across the Boiling Isles since the Day Of Unity.

“Well,” she said. “Here goes nothing.”

Ready or not, Eda was about to face The Collector

Chapter Text

Eda gripped her staff and took a deep breath, reminding herself that she had a stash of glyphs hidden in her hair - although using them in conjunction with her staff might be challenging given the whole one-hand issue.

She chugged her elixir, and it was a good thing, too. The Owl Beast was in full-on fight or flight mode.

The Beast might be an asset, but The Collector had defeated them once before and right now they were only serving to distract Eda when she most needed to focus.

‘Easy there,’ she mentally told the Beast, gently but firmly pushing them further into her subconscious. ‘I’ll protect you.’

The panicked Owl Beast didn’t seem convinced.

And, to be perfectly honest, Eda couldn’t blame them. Who knew what chance she and a handful of glyphs had against a powerful, murderous trickster.

Oh well, looked like she was jumping in and winging it, same as usual.

Eda took stock of the room around her, paying careful attention to the shadows in the corners and on the walls. They all seemed benign, and none of them were moving.

She turned around and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a face peeping around the hall doorway.

Not a shadow, Eda quickly realized with a breath of relief, but the face of a small child with overly-large glowing eyes and a striking skin tone splitting their face between blue and orange. It looked like they had been crying.

Of course. It wasn’t King hiding here. It was some other random child.

Eda mentally slapped away the Owl Beast as they let loose a screech and the kid tilted their head almost as if they had heard.

They seemed about to say something, so Eda quickly raised her finger to her lips, propping her staff in the crook of her arm. If The Collector was here, she didn’t want the kid to draw their attention.

The kid in question seemed to get the message. They didn’t speak, but their face split into a grin and, eyes shining, they beckoned Eda to follow them.

That was an odd reaction and Eda paused for a moment, watching them disappear into the hallway. They showed no fear. Not something one would expect from anyone hiding or imprisoned.

Maybe they were just too young to truly grasp the danger they were in.

Eda felt a sharp pang at the thought.

Apparently she was taking too long to think this, because the child reappeared in the doorway, giving her an impatient shrug, pointing down the hall and jerking their head in that direction.

Well, crap. The kid was ridiculously cute and Eda’s blasted maternal instincts were kicking into high gear. Whoever this kid was, they needed to be protected, and she had half a mind to just pick them up and make a break for it.

Except…

Something was telling her not to leave just yet.

Actually, that something might have been the kid themself, gesturing animatedly, insistent that she should follow them. She felt strangely compelled, almost as if doing so wasn’t actually a choice. 

She found herself following the kid all the way up to her old loft, of all places. They stood aside and gestured towards the room.

Were there others here? Eda had a brief vision of herself returning to the base on the Knee with entire basketfuls of lost children.

Her thoughts were derailed the instant she opened the door and saw something small duck into her nest with a terrified, but very familiar yelp.

Eda forgot all about keeping her voice down.

“KING?!?”

“EDA?!?”

King popped up over the edge of the nest and took one look at Eda before scrambling the rest of the way out and rushing toward her.

Eda dropped her staff and met him halfway, falling to the floor and wrapping her arm around him in a tight hug, tears beginning to flow freely.

For a long moment, neither spoke. They just sat, clinging to each other and scarcely daring to believe this was really happening. 

“Oh King, your skull,” Eda said at last. “It’s fractured.”

“Never mind my skull,” King said. “What happened to your ARM?”

“Who cares,” Eda said tearfully. “I thought you were dead , King.”

“I…thought I was too,” King said in a small voice, holding onto Eda as tightly as he could.

“Alador told me you went to save Luz…” Eda went on. “And…and…”

“She’s safe, Eda!” King said hurriedly. “I sent…she and the others are in the human realm!”

“I…wha…?”

For the second time in the last however-long it had been, Eda felt her emotions and mental state grappling with world-shattering news about her kids.

This time, however, it was pure, dizzying relief.

“Are you sure, King?” she said. “They’re really okay?”

“They are!” King said. “They’re…uh, cheating at hide-and-seek but they’re okay!”

Cheating at hide-and-seek? That was a bizarre thing to say, but Eda was too giddy to follow the thought any further right now.

She just squeezed King harder.

An eerie feeling of being watched crept over Eda and she looked up, starting slightly to find the other kid right at her shoulder, watching with an expression that might have been confusion or might have been jealousy but definitely reflected displeasure at being left out.

“It’s a hug,” Eda told them. “It’s…a human thing.”

The kid looked like they could use one, honestly. Moreso now than when she’d been relearning how to balance and fly, Eda wished she still had her other arm. She didn’t want to let go of King, but this other kid was all alone without their family.

Who knew if they even still had one.

“Hey, sneaky-peek,” she said. “Don’t look so sour. C’mere.”

She gently shifted King, bracing him against what was left of her right arm, and reached out to pull the other kid into a hug as well.

They squeaked in surprise.

“Eda!” King yelped. “Be careful! That’s…”

But the kid, after going rigid and raising a finger for a brief moment, simply slid down and allowed themself to be pulled close, blinking up at Eda, wide-eyed.

Eda felt an odd sensation like she’d just been hit with a static charge, but didn’t think too much of it.

“Who’s your friend, King?” she asked.

King looked up at Eda too, as if trying to convey something vitally important without speaking.

Distantly the Owl Beast shrieked again and, again, the mysterious kid reacted as though they had heard. They suddenly smirked in amusement, as if they knew a really funny secret.

“You got a name, kid?” Eda asked.

Both children gave Eda near-identical incredulous looks. The stranger snorted, buried their face in their overlarge sleeves so that only a tuft of white hair was visible, and shook with silent laughter.

Eda didn’t get the joke, whatever it was.

In her excitement at finding King, and her relief upon learning that Luz and the others were safe, she had momentarily forgotten that they were all in danger.

“There’ll be time for introductions later,” she said. “We need to get out of here before The Collector comes back. I was gonna’ hunt them down and make them wish they never existed, but today I’ll settle for getting you two to safety.”

The kid’s silent laughter increased, and they crumpled to the floor, beating on it with tiny fists, denting it and shaking the house.

“Um, Eda?” King said. “That is The Collector.”

“What? No it’s not.”

Eda turned to look at the little form rolling on the floor beside her.

“King, that is a child.”

The child in question flopped over and gave her a huge grin, nodding furiously.

“You’re The Collector?” Eda asked, still not quite buying it.

Another nod.

What?

“You…can speak now, you know,” she said.

That was all the kid needed. They positively screamed with laughter.

“Ugh, FINALLY!” they cried. “I HATE the Quiet Game! Phillip used to make me play it ALL THE TIME and I’m starting to think he only did it TO SHUT ME UP!”

“Uh…” Eda said.

It was absolutely the voice and laugh she recognized. She noted the celestial motif of the kid’s garb, the crescent moon pattern of their face. Even their freckles were stars. It had been right there in front of Eda the whole time and she hadn’t noticed.

“The Collector,” she said slowly. “Is a…child?”

“You didn’t know! ” The Collector howled in sheer glee, pointing at Eda and continuing to flop around on the floor. “Even the Beast knew! But youuuuuuuuuuu diiiiidn’t knoooo-oooow! Youuuuu diiiidn’t knoooo-oooow!”

“Agh! Eda !” King said. “Can you make them shut up again?!”

They were in danger, right? The Collector was known as the Grand Huntsman of Titans…but King was still alive. Eda wasn’t going to flat-out murder a damn kid …who was just…acting like a brat…

What?

Should she just take King and run…?

“You didn’t knoooo-ooooowwww!” The Collector sang tauntingly. “You didn’t knooooo-oooowww! Youuuuuu wanted to caaaatch meeee, but youuuuu didn’t knooo-oooooowww! You didn’t know it was meeee-eeee!”

“Gah!” King shouted at them. “You are SO ANNOYING!”

But The Collector was just getting started. They hopped up, hovering just a few inches above the floor, still laughing at Eda.

“Hah! The look on your FACE!” they crowed. “And the Beast was trying so hard to tell you! And you were were just like nooooope !”

They made an absent swatting motion with their hand and a few chunks of wall flew across the room, where they smashed apart with surprising force on the opposite wall.

Okay, so this kid’s powers were no joke. The thing was, they hardly seemed aware of it.

“And then !” The Collector laughed. “You were all ‘oh no, who could this poor little lost kid possibly be?’ and woooooooop !”

They grabbed Eda’s hand and spun in slightly so that her arm was wrapped around them and they were pressed against her chest in an echo of the hug from earlier.

The Collector grinned up at her, eyes dancing, daring her to react.

This wasn’t what Eda had expected. This wasn’t what Eda had expected at all.

“Is this a possession thing?” she asked. “Are you possessing this poor kid?”

“ Possessing ? Whaaat?”

“But you’re supposed to be a shadow. Not…”

Not a tangible child…

“Yeah, cause stupid Phillip wouldn’t let me out,” The Collector said.

“Belos had them trapped in a mirror,” King said. “I let them out.”

Right. Luz had mentioned that Phillip had dug up a mirror with a crescent moon…

Wait.

“YOU let them out, King? Not Belos?”

“The Collector, uh…” King said carefully. “Stopped the Draining Spell. So we could all play.”

“ How ?” Eda asked. “And why? I thought they were working with Belos?”

“Phillip was a lying meanie-pants,” The Collector said, snuggling closer and reaching up with their free hand to grab a lock of Eda’s hair, which they began winding around their finger. “I was gonna’ play with him but he juuuuuuust wasn’t fast enough. He’s oobleck now. Do you like hide-and-seek?”

“I can’t tell if you’re threatening me right now,” Eda said. “Or just oblivious.”

King, she could tell, was terrified at what was happening.

“I thought you were gonna’ make me wish I’d never existed,” The Collector said, holding up their finger that now had Eda’s hair wound tightly around it, and twitching their hand as if threatening to pull. “What’s the matter, Owl Lady? You scaaaaaaared ?”

“Eda,” King begged. “Be careful . They moved the moon like it was nothing.”

“Kid,” Eda told The Collector. “If you’re going to yank my head off, that’s normal. It does that, thanks to your curse thing. Wait, the moon stuff was YOU?”

The Collector gave a squeaky laugh.

Of all the scenarios Eda had imagined for how this day and this meeting might play out, she had not imagined this one.

She was trying to reconcile her previous assumptions with all the new information that had just been dumped on her. Not the least of these revelations was the fact that her kids were alive, and her self-proclaimed arch-nemesis was, as far as she could tell, a literal small child with a deranged sense of humor and the power of a god.

Eda didn’t dare move but, even if she could, she was having a hard time summoning the vengeful rage that, until a short while ago, had been bubbling just below the surface. 

The Owl Beast, of course, was fully onboard with destroying their foe, child or not. However, they had retreated in a panic and were quietly hiding somewhere deep, deep down.

“Collector,” King said. “Please, please don’t hurt Eda. I’m begging you, here. She’s the only mom I’ve got.”

Eda should have been frightened. She was supposed to be angry. This little thing cuddling against her in a weirdly threatening manner was dangerous. King was clearly afraid of them, or at least what they were capable of.

However, The Collector, despite the fact that they were holding Eda at figurative knifepoint, seemed very content to stay where they were.

“What,” she asked them seriously, careful not to make any sudden moves, or any moves at all. “What do you want with King?”

“I wanna’ plaaaaaaayyyy. King promised to play with me.”

“They…actually do want to play,” King said, voice shaking. “But they’re too powerful and their games are…very literal.”

“What’dya’ mean?” The Collector asked, glancing at King and then right back to Eda.

Eda needed to change the subject, defuse whatever situation this was. And fast.

She scanned the room and her gaze fell upon something on the floor.

Her father had been right!

“That music box…” she began.

“It’s MINE!” The Collector said, not taking their eyes off Eda and tightening their grip on her arm, tangling their other hand even further into her hair. “I saw it first! Finders keepers, losers weepers! Mine, mine, mine! All mine!”

“You were going to DESTROY it just now!” King cried, momentarily forgetting he was scared.

“Miiiiiiiine!”

“Yes, yours,” Eda said quickly, feeling that any other response might have dire consequences. “All yours now if you want it.”

The Collector snickered.

“But,” Eda continued. “A long time ago it was mine…and it got broken pretty badly.”

“Duuuhhhhh. I un-broke it.”

“What?” King cried. “You fixed the MUSIC BOX and not my HEAD?!”

He sucked in a breath, suddenly realizing he might have spoken out of turn when The Collector could obliterate Eda in a heartbeat.

“Uh, ‘cause your head still works ,” The Collector said. “Duh.”

“It’s fractured,” Eda said. “Those cracks aren’t supposed to be there. He’s hurt.”

“Don’t feel much like playing when I’m hurt,” King said in a small voice, averting his gaze.

“Uggggghhhhhh,” The Collector said. “Fiiiiiiine.”

They let go of Eda’s hair and arm and made a counterclockwise motion at King, pinching their fingers together.

The cracks in King’s skull melted instantly back together and, to his surprise, so did the broken horn that Luz had glued back on.

“Oh,” King said, reaching up to feel his head. “Uhhhh…thank you?”

The Collector blew a raspberry at him.

“Say,” King said, thinking fast, a plan quickly formulating itself. “You wanted to know if Eda likes hide and seek. It just so happens she loves hide and seek! In fact, she’s one of the best hide and seek players of all time!”

“Really?” The Collector asked.

“Really,” King said. “And now that my head’s all healed up, I really want to play!”

The Collector gave a loud shout of delight and grabbed King, who yelped in alarm as they wrapped their arms around him.

“Edaaaaaaa!” he cried. “They’re squishing me!”

“Collector,” Eda said, the name still feeling unfamiliar when it was being used to address a kid. “Be gentle with King. He’s just a little guy and you’re much, much stronger than him.”

“Ugh,” The Collector said. “You sound like his stupid dad.”

“You…” Eda said. “You knew the Titan?”

Of course they did. It shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise, considering The Collector was supposedly the god of the Titan Trappers, but Eda felt like if she got hit by one more bombshell right now, she might just short-circuit and self-destruct.

That is, if The Collector didn’t destruct her first which, going by their comments about Belos, and King’s obvious fear, was a very real possibility.

Heck, there was the distinct possibility they’d had a hand, if not full responsibility, in the destruction of the Boiling Isles Titan himself.

“We’ve been over this,” King said hurriedly. “My Dad was a bully and wouldn’t let you play with me. Blah-blah-blah. Every minute we spend talking about that is a minute we aren’t playing hide and seek, and I want to play hide and seek right now !”

“You’re right,” The Collector said, loosening their grip on King. “But only if I get to be ‘it’ again.”

“You have to count first!” King said, his voice taking on an almost panicked edge. “To two…no, three hundred.”

“Three hundred ?” The Collector said. “No way. I’m not gonna’!”

“You have to give us time to hide really good. It’s not fun if we’re easy to find.”

“Yeah, but I’m not gonna’ count aaaalllllllll the way to three hundreeeeeeeed! That’d take soooooooooo looooooooong!”

“Can you say anything without whining?”

“ You’re whining!”

“I am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Are tooooooooo!”

“Am noooot!”

Eda looked back and forth between the two children in front of her, a thought starting to form that she couldn’t quite articulate with her head spinning so fast with all the new information.

“You’re whining right now !” The Collector taunted. “Whine, whine whine, whine, whine .”

“Well how high do you think you should count?” King demanded.

The Collector screwed up their face like they were thinking really, really hard.

“Ten,” they said.

“ Ten ? That doesn’t give us any time!”

The Collector laughed.

“Agh!” King said. “Stop LAUGHING!”

The Collector laughed harder, and more deliberately.

“ One hundred,” Eda said. “That…that’s standard for hide and seek. And I should know, since I’m the best at it.”

“But it’s so manyyyyyyyyy numbers ,” The Collector protested.

“And I’m sure if you’re capable of moving the moon, you’re very much capable of counting all one hundred of them.”

The Collector appeared to be considering this, and coming to some sort of grudging acceptance.

“Eda,” King said. “You do have a good hiding place, right? Where they’ll have a hard time finding us.”

“She will if she’s as good at hide and seek as you say!” The Collector butted in. “But I’ll still fiiiiiiiind you, cause I’m betterrrrrrr at it than youuuuuuu!”

“Yes, King,” Eda said. “I have…a good hiding spot.”

Eda’s thoughts were confused and conflicted.

On the one hand, it was clear that they had to get out of there, and fast. The Collector was very, very dangerous despite their cute appearance, and putting some distance between them was imperative. So what if they were a kid. They’d still helped Belos.

On the other hand…

Well, Eda didn’t have another hand but, if she did, she would have had to admit that the idea of ditching them felt weird and she was quite uncomfortable with it. Part of her, that irritating maternal side that all these darn kids had sparked, still wanted to protect them for some incomprehensible reason.

But they were a danger to King, and that was all Eda needed to know.

So she made a snap decision that she didn’t have to think all that hard about.

“Ooooooone, twoooooooooo, threeeeeeeee…”

Still, as The Collector stood facing the corner, hands over their eyes and counting in that weirdly taunting voice of theirs, Eda hesitated.

Just for a moment, as she retrieved her staff before making her exit with King, she looked back.

***

“I should never have left them here, Lily,” Eda said. “That was where it all went wrong.”

It was late at night. Eda and Lilith were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table, papers scrawled with glyphs and notes spread all across the surface.

“It’s like you said,” Lilith said. “You were protecting King. I’d have done the same.”

Eda sighed, looking up from the table and out the kitchen window.

There wasn’t much to see. It was dark out, and the new moon had not yet begun waxing.

The jar of vaguely-shimmering sand sat innocuously on the windowsill, surrounded by fire-sage and a couple of small, flickering candles.

Eda turned back to the steaming cup of tea in her hand.

“I don’t regret getting King out of there for a second,” Eda said into the mug. “He needed out and I wasn’t about to put him in danger. Not now, not ever. You know that. But… I should have stayed with The Collector.”

“King needed you with him,” Lilith pointed out.

Eda nodded. It was true. Staying behind hadn’t really been an option.

But…

“And don’t you think,” Lilith went on. “That you might be overestimating your kid-wrangling abilities just a smidge here. I think you were damn lucky The Collector didn’t destroy you intentionally or otherwise when they were crawling all over you. I’d have been scared out of my wits, Edalyn.”

“I…should have been,” Eda said, stirring her tea. “And I was, don’t get me wrong. But I think I was more scared The Collector would do something to me in front of King, not of what they actually might do to me.”

“You really believe you could have gotten through to them? What did you even have to work with?”

“If I put things in terms they could understand…”

“Maybe now, and maybe with the proper limitations and precautions,” Lilith said. “But back then with the power of the universe at their disposal and no knowledge of consequences? Eda they wanted to play games with you. Games you couldn’t possibly win. And you know what happened to those who lost their games. Why in Titan’s name - oh no, sorry King - why would they have spared you?”

“I…I don’t know, Lily. All I do know was that was the turning point, and I messed it up somehow. What was I thinking just ditching an impressionable little kid and leaving them to their own devices?”

“They were a god !”

“Yes! Exactly! That’s the point !”

***

The return to the Knee base was a whirlwind.

Eda was a bit light-headed to begin with from using so many invisibility glyphs and nearly falling off her staff every time she used one.

She was infinitely glad that King had so much staff-racing practice with Luz and was able to keep his own balance and help out in a big way.

King was alive and she’d actually gotten him away from The Collector!

That, combined with the knowledge that Luz herself was alive and well, safely away from the Boiling Isles, made Eda’s heart soar and, despite everything, she felt nearly invincible.

As it turned out, her departure from the base hadn’t gone unnoticed after all.

The moment she entered with King, she was hit with a veritable flood of attention and activity coming at her from all sides. 

Hooty, having noticed King, was coiling around him, sobbing, but Eda could barely get to them because she was surrounded by a swarm of friends, family and allies.

People were demanding to know where she had gone, Lilith was berating her for leaving, Raine was berating her for not bringing them along, Katya was grilling her for information on The Collector, Dell was shouting something about meeting his grandson and Gwendolyn was getting right in the middle of it, trying to push everyone away.

“Give my daughter some Titandammed space !” Gwendolyn said forcefully, pounding her own staff on the ground.

Everyone was asking about The Collector, but Eda took advantage of the brief silence to inform everyone of the more pressing information she’d learned - that Luz, Gus, Willow, Amity and Hunter were still alive and safely trapped in the human realm.

The shouts, questions and activity exploded again, and Eda could barely keep up. It all seemed to come to her in flash images now.

Darius falling to his knees and profusely thanking a shell-shocked King.

Alador hugging Edric and Emira, all three of them crying.

Steve and Lilith immediately devising a plan to locate Willow’s and Gus’ parents and inform them that their children were okay.

Hooty overcome with sobs.

And then, just as Eda was trying to explain that the CATs needed to seriously reevaluate everything they thought they knew about The Collector, there came the question.

“Hang on,” Steve said. “Where’s Kikimora?”

***

“Ninetyyyyyy-seveeeennnnnnnn, ninetyyyyyyyy-eiiiiiigggghhht, ninetyyyyyyyy-niiiiiiiiiine…ONE HUNDREEEEEED!” The Collector cried, stepping back from the corner and opening their eyes, a look of pure delight and mischief on their face. “Ready or noo-ooot, here I cooo-oooome!”

They grabbed their shoes, tripping over themself in mid-air trying to get them on without using their hands, and then made short work of searching the upstairs rooms of the Owl House, a nagging, troubled feeling rising at the back of their mind when they found no one.

There was still downstairs to search, though.

They began rapidly checking the ground level. With the furniture gone, there weren’t that many good locations for anyone to hide…

But there was no one downstairs either.

Something tightened in their chest and they ran outside, starting to check around the yard. Should they have specified the area where their friends could hide?

“I’m afraid you won’t find them,” a new voice said.

They spun around to see a small demon, whom they recognized immediately, standing at the edge of the trees.

“They left you,” Kikimora said.

“Whatnow?” The Collector asked suspiciously.

“King and the Owl Lady,” Kikimora said. “They’re not playing hide and seek with you. They tricked you and left you here all alone.”

“No they didn’t,” The Collector said. “They wouldn’t. They’re my friends.”

“Oh you poor, innocent little soul,” Kikimora said, voice dripping with feigned sympathy. “You thought they actually wanted to play with you. King never wanted to be your friend.”

“Stop it!” The Collector cried. “He let me out!”

“He only let you out so you would stop the Draining Spell for him. If it weren’t for that, he would have just left you in that mirror all alone and not given you a second thought. He tricked you and betrayed you, just like Belos.”

“No!” The Collector insisted. “King is my friend! He WOULDN’T!”

“He did, Collector. I’m so sorry to be the bearer of this dreadful news, but King lied. King lied to you .”

“NO!”

The Collector’s hands balled into fists and they began to hyperventilate. A sudden wind shook the nearby trees.

“I’m so sorry, Collector,” KIkimora repeated. “But do you see King or the Owl Lady anywhere ? They lied to you and then they abandoned you. That’s the truth. And deep down you know it, too.”

The Collector’s fists shook and the wind whipped a couple of stray, angry tears from their eyes. They let out a choked laugh. Then another.

“Fortunately,” Kikimora said, her voice taking on a more vindictive edge. “You’ve got me now, and I know much better games.”

Chapter Text

The change was instantly noticeable. 

Overnight, The Collector’s destruction went from random chaos to methodical, calculated, targeted. 

It contrasted starkly with the spontaneous behavior of the ridiculous (albeit very dangerous) child that Eda had met, although she seemed to have a bit of difficulty trying to convey this to anybody except King.

When presented with his lost collar, King explained right away that the sigil on the tag could make the wearer invisible to The Collector. The CATs had wasted little time in drawing it on themselves or on various items they wore or carried.

Still, regardless of what her compatriots thought, Eda knew that something was wrong when she heard news of The Collector methodically conquering towns and villages and demanding the inhabitants submit to their rule. It just didn’t match up.

News and rumors spread like wildfire. Suddenly The Collector was no longer a mysterious entity. Everyone knew their face now, knew their physical form. They were no longer appearing at random, they seemed to be making a point of attacking with purpose.

Fortunately, due to agreement that Kikimora’s knowledge of the CAT base on the Knee compromised the safety of the location, a move out was already underway when the attack came.

Still, Eda thought, they should have made the move faster. The party barely made it out in time.

While everyone else was making their way off the Knee, Eda hung back with Owlbert, hiding behind a snowy rock on an overlook, protected from view by the sigil she now wore. Through a pair of binoculars, she witnessed The Collector’s destructive powers in person for the first time.

They were screaming and laughing, floating above what was left of the defunct factory. They flailed their arms as if punching and, with each swing they sent a wave of force across the building, demolishing it in moments.

“Take THAT!” The Collector shouted. “And that! AND THAT!”

This was the same kid who had been aggressively snuggling against Eda just days ago.

Somehow Eda thought they didn’t quite look as happy and carefree as they had then. Before she’d fled, leaving them thinking she and King were just going to play hide and seek.

Why the heck did she feel guilty about that? The kid was a menace and the god of the Titan Trappers! 

Except…

From what King had said, while The Collector had no love for the Titan that was the Boiling Isles, they actually seemed to adore King. They truly considered King a friend, although in an extremely frightening manner that didn’t take King’s own feelings into account.

Eda had been furious when she’d learned that The Collector had led the Titan Trappers on an actual-stakes hunt for King and she’d had half a mind to go right back to her house and throw the sorry excuse for a cute kid against a wall numerous times and then out the damn window!

Only she wouldn’t do that.

She couldn’t do that.

For one thing, they were far too powerful.

For another…

They were a kid.

They were literally a kid wielding power that would give even the most wisened adult little reason to consider the consequences of their actions. Why would they if they had the ability to simply reverse any consequences?

They didn’t grasp the stakes because they didn’t understand that there were stakes. 

So, as Eda watched The Collector gleefully turning the CAT’s now-former base of operations into a smoking crater, she felt some residual anger, but she also felt the most annoying bit of sympathy that she had been unable to shake since encountering them in her house.

Eda struggled to keep her binoculars trained on them one-handedly.

Then…

Then she heard a voice that decidedly did not belong to The Collector.

“Yes! Excellent work, my friend!”

Eda bristled as she recognized Kikimora’s voice. 

***

Raine was in a bad mood. 

Eda had been meaning to send them on a mission for some last-minute spell supplies but, seeing how over everything they seemed, she’d decided to send Lilith instead and try to get Raine to relax and decompress at home.

It still seemed surreal that this was Raine’s home now.

“Adrian is on the warpath right now,” they told Eda when she inquired. “It’s taking everything I have not to decapitate him every time he opens his mouth.”

“Maybe,” Eda suggested. “You should decapitate him. It’d be doing the world a favor, if you ask me.”

“The only reason I haven’t,” Raine said. “Is I’m just morbidly curious to hear whatever utterly deluded, batshit thing he’s going to say next.”

Eda snorted. 

“Give him a good hard kick,” she said. “And make sure he knows who it’s from.”

For some reason, this didn’t improve Raine’s mood and they were unusually quiet as the day wore on.

Eda had to admit, it bothered her, and she kept reassuring herself that they weren’t angry at her.

It seemed to be a day for it.

There were two Luz Nocedas sitting on the couch and neither of them looked particularly happy either. 

“What,” Eda asked. “Are you two wearing?”

“Sweaters,” Vee said.

“They’re hideous,” Eda said. “I want one.”

“We can get you one,” Luz said, but without her usual enthusiasm.

“Okay,” Eda sighed, sitting down on the couch. “What’s wrong? Human realm drama?”

“Eh,” Vee said. “Kind of.”

“More like human realm versus demon realm drama,” Luz said.

“Ah,” Eda said. “I take it Camilla’s still struggling with your whole double life thing?”

“She wants me back in human school after the Winter break is over,” Luz said. “Something about getting a well-rounded education.”

“Ah, what do they even teach you in human school that you can’t learn here?” Eda said. “How to operate electric blankets? Are electric blankets still a thing?”

“Biology, chemistry, geometry and a whole realm of things!” Vee said. “And if Luz goes back to highschool full time, I won’t be able to. At least, not unless I make up a whole new form and persona. And then how would I explain that to all the friends I’ve already made while in this form? They…they’re cool but I don’t know how they’d react if I told them what I really was.”

“And if I’m at school all the time, I won’t be able to be here as much!” Luz cried, waving her hands.

“I suppose I can try talking to Camilla,” Eda said. “We’re on good terms but I don’t know if that would help or hinder the situation.”

“ I could try talking to her!” King said, scrambling over the back of the sofa. “She’d have to listen to a Titan!”

“How long have you been hiding back there, King?” Eda asked.

“Long enough!” King said. “Hooty’s been giving me stealth lessons.”

“HOOTY!” Eda shouted. “Why have you been giving King stealth lessons?”

“Well someone had to!” Hooty shouted back.

“Thanks, King,” Luz said. “But that won’t be necessary. Mom thinks a lot of you, but I’m not sure there’s any changing her mind on this one. I mean, she’s not being a jerk about it or anything.”

“She’s super sympathetic,” Vee added.

“At least she’s not trying to stop me from visiting the Boiling Isles at all anymore,” Luz said.

“Well,” Vee said. “I think she totally hopes you’ll grow out of it.”

“As if.”

“To be fair,” Eda said. “After everything that’s happened these past few months, I can’t say I blame her.”

“I don’t think I helped,” Vee said. “With all my horror stories of Belos’ experiments, I didn’t exactly paint the most inviting picture of the Boiling Isles.”

“I could still visit you,” King said. “I want to see this Winter you speak of. We don’t have seasons like that here.”

“Eh, you’re not missing much,” Luz said. “The Gravesfield Historical Society is doing some holiday hoopla thing to celebrate the Wittebanes. It’s really annoying. We egged Phillp’s statue again though.”

“And almost got caught,” Vee added.

“Almost got caught means we didn’t get caught!” Luz said, snapping her fingers and gesturing animatedly.

“Aw, that’s my girls!” Eda said. “Hey, have you pranked the museum guy anymore? I've got some new suggestions.”

“Jacob? Did we ever!” Luz said.

Vee actually laughed.

“He was going on and on about some not-deer thing on MewTube,” she said.

“It’s a cryptid,” Luz said. “Like Bigfoot.”

“What’s so cryptic about big feet?” King asked.

“So we stole one of the neighbors’ light-up reindeer,” Vee said. “And ran through his backyard with it in the middle of the night. He FREAKED OUT!”

Everyone howled with laughter.

“And!” Luz said excitedly. “We have another idea of how to scare him with the light-up deer thing using the magic of fishing line and an overly-complicated pulley system!”

“ Please take some video,” Eda cackled.

“Oh,” Luz said. “We will! We definitely will!”

Eda continued to laugh, glad that the two girls seemed a little happier for the moment.

The issues weren’t gone, and Eda knew that Luz and Vee would continue to face the challenges and roadblocks that came from having lives split between dimensions.

But, for now, it was good to see them laughing again.

***

Eda knew she should leave. Everyone else had already high-tailed it out of dodge, The Collector wouldn’t be distracted forever, and the sigil hiding her from view would not work on Kikimora.

“This!” Kikimora was yelling. “Is what HAPPENS to the HIDEOUTS AND HOLDOUTS of THOSE WHO WOULD DEFY ME! Witness my rule! Witness my power! At LAST THE BOILING ISLES ARE MINE AND NOBODY CAN STOP ME!”

“There was no one in there,” The Collector said. “You said there’d be lots of people here like the last place! You said KING WOULD BE HERE!”

“They must’ve gotten a head start,” said Kikimora. “They obviously weren’t playing by the rules.”

“I’m tired of people not playing by the rules!” The Collector shouted. “What is wrong with everybody! They don’t want to have any fun!”

“We are having fun!” Kikimora said. “ I want to have fun with you.”

“You’re having fun pretending to be Empress. I’m the one doing all the work!”

“Work? WORK? I thought you said you liked this game?”

“Well I wanna’ play a different game now. This one’s booooorrrrr-iiiiiiing!”

“How can smiting the dens of our enemies be boring.”

“Boooorrrrrrrr-iiiiiiiiinnnnng!”

The Collector made swooping summersaults in the air.

“Ugh. Why must you insist on being so difficult,” Kikimora said. “No, don’t answer that. It was rhetorical.”

“Why do you insist on being boring!”

“I’m not boring! I am The Supreme Empress of the Boiling Isles now, just as you are the Grand Huntsman.”

“Whatever. I’m bored. I wanna’ play something else now.”

“No, we have to finish THIS game first.”

“You’re not my mommmmm!”

Owlbert started to twitter something, but Eda shushed him. Even though she was hiding a good distance away from the action, it wasn’t worth the risk of being discovered.

“Well…FINE!” Kikimora said. “If my games and plans aren’t adequate for you, then there’s someone I need you to meet.”

“Are they fun?” The Collector asked.

“The funnest.”

It was Owlbert’s turn to shush Eda as she nearly laughed out loud at hearing Kikimora say the word “funnest” in such a resigned voice.

“Well then why are we waiting around!” The Collector cried. “Let’s go find them! I’ll race you! Last one there’s a rotten EGG! Let’s GO!”

The Collector zoomed off in what was without a doubt a randomly-chosen direction.

“ Wait !” Kikimora cried, hopping over the snowdrifts, her hand in the air. “You don’t even know where we’re going - AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

The Collector, quite a distance away by now and only visible as a rapidly-vanishing purple dot in the sky, must have motioned for her to follow because Kikimora suddenly shot out of the snow as if from a rocket and flew through the air, dragged at projectile speed after The Collector, her screech still echoing faintly even as she disappeared from view.

“Hah!” Eda said finally (hopefully) out of earshot. “Ohhhhh, dammit but I like that kid.”

Owlbert made a soft, trilling hoot from her shoulder.

“No I have not been smitten from the moment I saw them peeking around the doorway,” Eda said. “I’m just admiring their style. Gotta’ give ‘em points for that.”

Owlbert trilled a bit more.

“Raise them as my own??” Eda responded incredulously. “I’m no more their mom than Kikimora is. Don’t be ridiculous.”

Owlbert hooted skeptically.

“No,” Eda said, standing up and crunching through the snow after her companions. “The Collector’s still a danger to King and everyone else and everything else in this realm and maybe beyond. And let’s not forget they’re the reason I’m stuck with featherbrain here.”

She pointed to her head.

Owlbert flew along above her, continuing to hoot softly.

“ Yes I forgave Lilith. That’s not…That’s not the point, Owlbert.”

Another hoot.

“Would you shut up before I just stick you back on my staff and carry you the rest of the way? We’re not going after The Collector, and that’s final.”

***

“Eda, what is this?” Lilith demanded, having returned from her spell supply mission to find that Eda had covered the kitchen table with even more papers, books, notes and odd items.

“ This ,” Eda said. “Is the creative process at work. This is what genius looks like.”

“Eda, forgetting the fact that neither you nor I can practice magic without glyphs anymore,” Lilith said. “You can’t just make up spells.”

“Sure I can! Every spell ever used was made up by someone at some point. You’re the historian, you should know that.”

“But you’re literally just guessing here! It’s educated guessing, I’ll grant you that, but you have no idea if this is even going to work.”

“Well, all the components work by themselves. It’s just a matter of putting them together the right way.”

“That’s a huge leap, though,” Lilith said.

“Not really,” Eda said, holding up a roll of parchment covered in messy notes and diagrams. “I mean, this bit? I know the magic works. I’ve seen it done by someone. I just…don’t have the resources they did, so I just have to do what I’ve always done.”

“Create chaos?”

“ Improvise !”

“Oh, Titan,” Lilith put her face in her hands. “Crap, I took King’s name in vain again.”

“Well if it makes you feel any better,” Eda said. “I’ve employed an expert !”

“An expert?” Lilith asked. “Who could possibly be an expert on…?”

“Hoot-hoot!” Hooty called, creaking open the front door. “You’ve got a visiiiiitoorrrrr!”

“Ah,” Eda said. “That’ll be them now.”

***

Eda couldn’t remember for the life of her who had first suggested Hexside as the new base of operations. 

Somewhere along the line, it had just become accepted that this was the backup hideout for the CATs and this was where everyone would meet up following the evacuation of the Knee. 

Steve and Katya had made contact with Principal Bump on a previous scouting mission and had confirmed that Hexside was miraculously still standing and, although the grudgby field had been replaced by a cavernous pit that, as far as anyone knew, had no bottom.

Also, there was an enormous pile of rubble at the front entrance.

However, the warding system at Hexside made it one of the safest locations on the Isles and Bump had been utilizing it to provide a safe haven for witches and demons who needed it, and was more than willing to help shelter the CATs as well.

“Edalyn!” Bump cried, scrambling over some larger boulders to greet her as she arrived. “You’re okay! Everyone else is already here. We were starting to worry.”

“Ugh, it’s the apocalypse and I’m still late for school,” Eda said. 

Bump flat-out hugged her, sniffling slightly.

“Uh, you okay there?” Eda asked, a bit warily.

“It’s just…” Bump said, stepping back to give Eda some space. “It’s been a rough…what’s it been? Few days? Few weeks? Kind of lost count after that little trouble-maker flew by and threw all these rocks at me.”

He waved his hand at the collection of large boulders scattered near the entrance.

“Speaking of which…” Bump looked behind Eda, as if expecting to see someone else. “You’re alone.”

“What? Who didn’t make it here? I thought…”

“Everyone is fine,” Bump said quickly. “They arrived safe and sound, don’t worry. It’s just…they said you stayed behind when The Collector attacked and I thought maybe…Ah well, never mind. Couldn’t be that easy. I’ll have King proceed with adding his cloaking sigils to our protection wards.”

“What are you even talking about, Bump,” Eda said, pushing past him and striding around the boulders towards the door. “Those should have been put up first thing. If The Collector can see this place and they decide to pulverize it, we’re toast.”

After checking in on everyone else, who were very tired but in surprisingly good spirits, Eda retreated with King to the inner labyrinth of secret passageways that had once been her haunt as a child.

“You made this place?” King asked, impressed.

Eda was happy to see that it looked like other students had utilized the space over the years, and had even been using it quite recently.

Good. At least she’d left some sort of legacy for the next generation of misfits.

“They used to call me Lord Calamity,” Eda told King.

King burst out laughing.

“They called you WHAT?” he wheezed.

“It’s not funny!” Eda said. 

“Lord Calamity? Really? That’s the single greatest thing I’ve ever learned about you, Eda!”

“Hey. It was a title of honor, King.”

She found a comfortable spot and lay back, staring at the maze of doors that lead everywhere. King quickly fell asleep on her chest, relaxing to the steady rise and fall.

Lord Calamity.

It wasn’t a title that Eda had thought about for a long time, but it was one she’d worn proudly, and one that she kind of wished she could still live up to.

“Oh kid me,” she whispered to the empty space around her. “What would you think if you could see me now.”

Her thoughts turned to the state of the Boiling Isles. It all seemed a little hopeless at the moment.

Eda had never liked Kikimora to begin with. But now, more than ever, she loathed the former ally of the Emperor.

King had told Eda about the fact that Kikimora knew all about Belos’ true plans for the Day Of Unity, knew about the innumerable Golden Guard grimwalkers, knew about The Collector themself.

Next to Belos, it was reasonable to assume that Kikimora knew more about The Collector than anyone else on the Boiling Isles. It also sounded to Eda that she’d been suspiciously eager for The Collector to be released.

Of course, that could easily be chalked up to self-preservation, as her magic and life-force was being forcibly drained from her at the time, but something about it still nagged at Eda.

What if this had been Kikimora’s long-term plan all along? To make a HUGE gamble for the ultimate power-grab? A gamble that hinged on the release of an all-powerful but easily-exploitable god?

Eda knew that Kikimora would willingly sacrifice anything and everything, including her own family, for a chance at power. It somehow didn’t seem that far outside the realm of possibility that she would also risk her own annihilation by Draining Spell for the slim chance that she might gain control of a being who could give her power over all of the demon realm, and possibly beyond.

In some ways, having Kikimora as a ruler scared Eda more than Belos.

On the flipside, from what Eda had seen at the Knee, Kikimora might have known how to coerce The Collector in theory but, in dealing with them in practice, she might have gotten more than she bargained for.

The thought gave Eda some immense, vindictive satisfaction.

However, over the next few days, it seemed like Kikimora must have found a new secret weapon for directing The Collector, because her tactics became even more streamlined and efficient. She captured town after town via The Collector, started publicly declaring herself Supreme Empress Kikimora, and took up residence in the former Emperor’s Castle.

And then…

Then the Castle itself was demolished, flattened. Bricks and stones from it were flung for miles in every direction.

And, out of absolutely nowhere and to everyone’s utter shock, Odalia Blight seized control of everything that had been allegedly under Kikimora’s command and declared herself the Rightful Heir Of The Boiling Isles.

Kikimora disappeared completely.

“Unlike my predecessors,” Odalia said to a crowd that had gathered for a so-called End-Of-An-Era Press Conference. “I am a Blight. And Blights always uphold our end of a deal .”

Despite the fact that most communications were down, and had been since the Day Of Unity, the press conference was broadcast to every crystal ball and Penstagram scroll on the Isles.

Odalia looked as imperious as ever, and Alador swore profusely as he watched the conference on a crystal ball in one of the Hexside classrooms with Eda and everyone else.

“It’s a good thing we already left the old factory,” he said. “That’d be one of the first places she’d have looked for us.”

“That and the fact that the factory has already been obliterated by The Collector,” Darius added.

Odalia continued her speech, something about ushering in a new era and appeasing her god-benefactor with sacrifices by creating a game wherein children from different regions across the Boiling Isles would be chosen and forced to fight each other to the death on live broadcast.

But Eda wasn’t listening. She wasn’t even looking at Odalia.

Instead, her focus was all on a familiar-faced child standing just behind the podium, watching her intently.

The Collector’s expression was, if anything, bored, and they couldn’t stop fidgeting. However, their eyes shone with a flash of hope when Odalia so firmly emphasized that Blights kept up their end of the deal.

***

“Hello, Owl Lady!”

Lilith wasn’t sure who she had expected to see walk through the door of the Owl House, but it certainly wasn’t…

“Blight Brother!” Eda cried.

“Wait,” Lilith said, looking back and forth between Eda and Edric. “ This is your so-called expert?”

“Uh… ow ,” Edric said.

“Can it, Lilith,” Eda said. “When it comes to unconventional spellwork and magical experimentation, this guy’s got a bright future.”

“You told me what happened with the Blabber Serum,” Lilith said. “No offense, Edric.”

“That serum got results ,” Eda shot back. “And results are what we’re after.”

“I got the gist of your intentions from Amity,” Edric said. “Based off hypotheticals, I agree that tomorrow is probably the best night to attempt this, moon-phase-wise. But show me what you’re working with.”

“Right this way, Blight Brother,” Eda said, motioning for him to follow her into the kitchen.

Edric enthusiastically shouldered the huge backpack he had brought with him and hurried after her.

“Hootsifer,” Lilith said quietly. “Am I delusional for worrying about how this is going to go?”

“Probably not,” Hooty said, stretching up to lay his head on her shoulder. “But you know Eda. Go big or don’t go at all. I’m just excited to be a part of it!”

“Edalyn’s always been one to reach beyond her grasp,” Lilith said with a sigh. “And right now she’s reaching for the stars.”

“That’s a beautiful metaphor, Lulu. Aaaaaand also kind of literal.”

“It’s not so much that I’m worried about what might happen if she succeeds,” Lilith continued. “Although that does bear some serious consideration. But Hooty…I’m worried about how my sister might take it if this fails."

Chapter Text

How exactly Odalia figured out that Hexside was a base of safety was anyone’s guess.

But there she was. Following another abrupt new wave of destruction across the Boiling Isles that took Blight Manor and the surrounding acres along with it, she was at the Hexside entrance, beating on the doors, screaming and begging to be let in.

“If this is another Kikimora situation…” Lilith said darkly.

Regardless of everyone’s less-than-fuzzy feelings, nobody wanted any attention drawn to Hexside, and Odalia was making a spectacle of herself.

And so, against his better judgment, Bump let her in.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Odalia gasped. “I’ll be sure to repay you tenfold when I re-acquire my assets. I owe you.”

“I don’t need your bribery,” Bump said. “And keep in mind that, within these walls, I have full power and authority to send you to detention.”

Odalia looked like she wanted to protest, but her desire for safety won out.

However, when she walked into the nearest classroom and came face-to-face with Alador and the twins, it seemed for a moment that perhaps staying at Hexside wasn’t her safest option.

“Oh come now,” she said to the three silent, stony glares that greeted her. “Are you really going to let petty family drama divide us at a time like this? You’re being ridiculous. We should be united against a common threat!”

“P…pet… petty family drama?” Alador sputtered. “How dare you! Half the…the… stuff that went down was…was facilitated by you! You can start by cleaning up your mess. Then maybe, maybe we’ll talk.”

“Our mess, dear,” Odalia said. “You had a hand in it as well. In some ways much more directly than me.”

Alador’s face went a furious red and he looked like he was about to explode.

Before he could get a word out, however, someone exploded into the classroom and Odalia found herself pushed roughly into a school desk chair. She looked up, wide-eyed, into the snarling face of…

“Edalyn,” Odalia said with a sigh. “This doesn’t concern you, and quite frankly you’re just embarrassing yourself and what’s left of your tarnished reputation…”

Eda slammed her fist on the desk so hard that Odalia jumped.

“Where’s the kid, Blight?”

“What?” Odalia said, surprised and perhaps the smallest bit intimidated. “Your unruly human? How should I know? I’m not the one who’s supposed to be responsible for her. Maybe you…”

Eda flipped the desk chair backwards and Odalia yelped as she hit the floor.

“I may not have magic and only have one hand,” Eda said, standing over her and blocking the light from the nearby window. “But I have everything I need to cut off your oxygen supply. So I’ll ask again and you’ll answer me this time. Where. Is. The Collector?”

“The…The Collector?” Odalia said, looking like this was not the direction she expected the interrogation to go, and also beginning to fear that Eda’s threats might be genuine. “Oh don’t worry, they’re not with me anymore. You’ll want to take that up with the Coven Heads. Didn’t take them long to catch on and turn the brat against me. Why do you think I’m in hiding ? I can’t unsee what they did to Kikimora. If they find me…”

“The Coven Heads?”

Eda stepped back and Odalia breathed a sigh of relief, wasting no time in scrambling out of the desk chair trap.

“Oh this is bad,” Eda said, running her hand through her hair.

“Oh, by the way Mom,” Emira said. “Amity’s not dead, since you were obviously worried about that.”

“So worried you didn’t bring it up,” Edric added.

“I…” Odalia suddenly looked very tired. “I am glad to hear that. I’ve only…I’ve only ever wanted the best for this family…”

“Oh spare me,” Eda said, turning on her heel and striding out of the classroom, leaving the Blights to sort things out (or not) amongst themselves.

Raine, Darius and Eberwolf clearly shared Eda’s concerns about the new players in the ongoing struggle to control and direct The Collector.

“The Coven Heads have always been a power-hungry group of backstabbers,” Darius said.

Eberwolf grumbled in agreement.

“Yes, I was just about to say, Eber,” Darius continued. “They are some of the most masterful, manipulative suck-ups when it comes to acquiring power. Belos rewarded that kind of behavior from us. Encouraged it, actually. If this Collector is as susceptible to suggestion as Eda and King would have us believe…”

“Coven Versus Wild,” said Raine, who had been staring at Eda with a slightly awed expression ever since she had threatened Odalia.

Now, however, their face reflected worry.

“What was that?” Darius asked.

Eberwolf cocked their head to the side.

Neither seemed to understand what Raine was referring to, but Eda did because she slapped her hand over her mouth.

“Oh no,” she said. “You’re right.”

“Would either of you care to fill me in on what you’re talking about?” Darius asked, voice sounding a bit more irritated than normal.

“Eda and I met at a student event proctored by Terra Snapdragon,” Raine said. “Did I ever tell you that?”

“Terra mentioned something about it,” Darius said. “But I fail to see how this is possibly relevant…”

“Terra had us all play a game,” Eda said. “Where the students labeled coven witches had to hunt down and capture the students labeled wild witches.”

Eberwolf’s eyes widened.

“I’ve heard of her doing such things,” Darius said. “But I’m still not following…oh. Oh.”

“So,” Eda said. “Among the group of Coven Heads who are now vying for The Collector’s power, we have a delusional, murder-happy witch who makes up games for children to play.”

“Not to mention ,” Raine said. “We have an Illusionist who sees everyone as actors on a stage that he’s cast to play certain roles.”

Eberwolf squawked loudly, slapping a hand to their forehead.

“So what you’re saying,” Darius said. “Is that The Collector is now in the company of a team of backstabbing experts who know how to manipulate them in very specific ways that appeal to their sense of fun and games…”

***

“Do you know what makes The Collector a threat, Lily?” Eda asked, noticing that her sister was still hanging back and looking pensive while Edric poured over several pages of notes spread out on the table.

“I was under the impression,” Lilith said. “That The Collector no longer posed a threat.”

“Ah, well,” Eda said. “Not now they don’t. But think about it. It’s easy to just think they’re dangerous because they’re the most powerful being this realm has ever seen.”

“My description would be more along the lines of chaos incarnate.”

“But chaos doesn’t make them evil or outright malicious. But…they’re on their way there.”

“On their way…?”

“When they were released, The Collector was a chaotic kid without any moral leanings. But if the cycle continues, becoming a truly malicious chaos entity is the most likely end result. They were lied to and betrayed dozens of times over. That doesn’t usually lead anywhere good.”

“I think that was part of why they were sealed away.”

“That’s what I’m saying , Lily. Imagine being a kid and having no friends. Except you thought you did. But just think about it. Imagine realizing that every friendship, every interaction you had ever had was a lie. Imagine being a kid and having no one. And I mean no one. Imagine realizing that no one ever actually cared about you, or even cared what happened to you. What would that do to you?”

“I imagine it would be…world-shattering,” Lilith said softly.

“It would completely and utterly destroy an adult,” Eda said. “What do you think it does to a child?”

***

Adrian Graye Vernworth was the next refugee to be somewhat-reluctantly taken in at the Hexside base.

He looked terrible and Darius, Eberwolf and Raine seemed quite gleeful about this fact. So did Principal Bump for some reason.

Eda watched in fascination as the four grilled Adrian relentlessly for information, unsure if they could trust him, but knowing he could be a powerful ally if he chose to be.

“I feel like I should get in on this!” King said. 

“Don’t let me stop you,” Eda told him. 

She’d heard from Alador how Adrian had tried to trick and force the entire Hexside student body into getting Coven sigils before the Day Of Unity and was absolutely not enamored.

Today, however, the very-disheveled-looking Adrian didn’t seem inclined to engage in trickery.

“That little god is a menace,” he told the CATs. “I thought I could direct them, but in the end I was the one being…” he waved his hands as if trying to convey something. “You know… played.”

“You lied to them,” Eda said coldly. “You tried to use them.”

“Most powerful entity on the Boiling Isles,” Adrian said. “Could unmake my existence if they wanted to. Can you blame me for playing along out of self-preservation? Can you truthfully stand there and tell me you wouldn’t have done the same?”

Eda growled, but couldn’t look at anyone.

She doubted that playing along out of self-preservation had entirely been Adrian’s initial plan, but he was right in that she had done exactly that herself.

The fact was really starting to bother her.

“Oh all right,” Adrian said. “So I was dazzled by the prospect of having ultimate power through The Collector. Same as Kikimora and Odalia.” He shrugged dramatically. “But I didn’t realize what I was messing with. This is so much bigger than all of us. I don’t know what kind of elaborate scheme The Collector is planning, but I will no longer play the fool.”

“I don’t think they’re planning anything,” King said. “They don’t have the attention span for it.”

“Or,” Adrian said. “That’s just what The Collector wants you to think.”

“Yeah, no,” Eda muttered. “The ones doing the planning right now are pretty obvious. And they aren’t The Collector.”

“Regardless,” Adrian said with another theatrical shrug. “The other Coven Heads are playing with fire right now and would prefer to be here, not there, when The Collector inevitably gets bored of playing with them.”

***

Eda had certainly never set out to take on the role of “Mom.”

It wasn’t that she explicitly didn’t want kids, it was more that children were strange, foreign creatures and she just couldn’t see herself as a particularly maternal witch.

There was a maternal archetype, and Eda was not it.

She didn’t feel like she fit the bill for a good parent, but she also didn’t think that a lot of parents of actual children fit this bill either.

Come to think of it, she sometimes wondered why some parents even had kids to begin with. All they seemed to do was yell at them, complain about how much of an inconvenience they were, or treat them as accessories, something for Penstagram.

Sometimes though, Eda had to admit, the idea of having a kid crept in. Especially back when she’d still thought the thing with Raine might have been going somewhere. But, when Raine broke up with her and went to join the Bard Coven, Eda watched that possible future crumble away before it even had a chance to exist.

On her own, the possibility of having a kid still existed somewhere as a vague, nebulous concept.

But there was the curse to deal with, and that pesky fact that she was a wanted criminal who was constantly being hunted by the government.

But then, one day, she took refuge on an island that wasn’t supposed to exist and stole the tiny son of the Boiling Isles Titan and took him home and raised him.

Of course, she hadn’t known he was a baby Titan at the time, and she hadn’t exactly planned to raise him. He was just…a pet? Roommate? Employee?

The pieces had begun to fall into place, but Eda had been too busy looking over her shoulder for Belos’ lackeys to notice.

King was loud, overconfident, prone to hubris and disaster, and Eda’s love for him was as wild as her magic.

She adored watching him grow, learn, thirst for power and minions, fail spectacularly, and then get back up and threaten the nearest Coven scout who just happened to be walking down the street.

Said Coven scout somehow thought it would be a good idea to try to forcefully kick the small, arrogant creature out of the way.

“Try that again,” Eda had said, her voice a snarl, after having used both magic and her fists to beat the scout within an inch of their life. “And I’ll personally remove you from your cardiovascular system.”

“Oh that’s what you get!” King had screeched from somewhere down the street, though he still sounded a bit pained and winded. “You don’t mess with The King Of Demons! My minions will hunt you down for twelve eternities and then some!”

Eda had spent the next hour manifesting a cold compress and holding it to King’s bruises while he spun her a fantastical tale of defeating the Catdragon of Mount Styx, which she knew good and well did not exist.

***

As the days passed, and organized chaos continued to rip apart the Isles, discussion of action began to take priority. The problem was, there wasn’t much action that could be taken.

King filled everyone in on what he knew of The Collector and the mirror disc from whence they’d come.

“The more I think about it,” he said, to a surprisingly-rapt audience. “I don’t think The Collector’s mirror itself was the prison. The Titan Trappers did some sort of ritual when they…when they tried to sacrifice me…let’s not talk about that. But whatever they did…I kept getting glimpses of where The Collector was actually trapped. I think the mirrors are a sort-of doorway. But they can only be activated by a Titan, or by Titan blood. So The Collector could only project themself as a shadow through Belos’ mirror.”

“That makes sense,” Lilith said. “There are ancient legends of spirits passing through mirrors from one realm to another. Maybe this is where those legends originate.”

Every face in the classroom was on King, and he wasn’t sure if he felt proud of the attention he was getting, or if he hated it.

He took a deep breath and continued.

“I suspect,” he said. “That since I was able to release The Collector, I also have the power to recapture them.”

There were a few gasps and exclamations from the room.

“Uh…,” King said. “The problem is, the mirror in the Skull broke. And I don’t think we’ll be finding what’s left of it since the entire Skull is now destroyed.”

“Maybe that was intentional,” Adrian mused. “Perhaps that’s why The Collector’s first order of business was to deliberately destroy the Skull.”

“Even if we could get hold of it,” King said. “It’s still broken. And I have a gut feeling the mirror needs to be intact for anyone to pass through. Actually, my gut feeling is that I’m hungry. But you know what I’m saying.”

“Are there any other mirrors?” Raine asked. “Or was it just the one?”

“I don’t know,” King admitted. “The Titan Trappers had one, but it was also broken.”

“There could be others,” Lilith said. “But what are the chances of even finding another one? Especially one that’s still intact. It took Phillip years.”

“Well,” Raine said. “Maybe there’s another option.”

“What?” Eda asked sharply. “That I take the kid under my not-so-metaphorical wing and adopt them?!? Seriously, why does everyone keep suggesting that?”

“Uh, what? No?” Raine said. “That is NOT what I was going to say.”

“Oh.”

“Where did that even come from, Eda?”

“Nothing,” Eda said. “And nowhere. What were you going to suggest as our other option?”

“I wasn’t going to suggest anything,” Raine said, still giving Eda an odd look. “I was being rhetorical.”

***

“I have an assignment for you, Blight Brother,” Eda said.

Edric looked up from where he was pouring over a list of instructions that read ‘Heat to 350 degrees (Standard Empiric Temperature, human equivalent of 1700 degrees Celsius or 3090 degrees Farenheit - why are human temperatures like this).’

“This is a really ambitious undertaking, Owl Lady,” he said. 

“Well you know very well that I always prefer the overblown, chaotic route,” Eda said. “But what I’m talking about is this.”

She held out an ornately-carved music box.

Edric took it, looking at Eda questioningly.

“There was an extremely powerful reversal spell cast on it, the same one I’ve been referencing. Considering who cast it, and what we are planning for tomorrow, I’d say it would benefit us quite a bit if you had any thoughts or technology that might tell us more.”

“Huhhhh,” Edric said thoughtfully, taking the music box. “I can take it home tonight and run some tests. Dad has some stuff in the lab!”

“I like the way you think, kid!”

“We may not learn anything, though. I can’t be certain.”

“I’m not dealing with certainty right now,” Eda said. “Not by a long shot. But, when you think about it, that’s what makes it fun!”

***

Eda couldn’t stop replaying the events of the past weeks over and over in her mind, thoughts landing on every moment where she could have acted differently or made different choices.

She kept coming back to the moment she and King had fled the Owl House and left The Collector alone there.

Still, it did no good to dwell on that now. What was done was done. The question was whether her actions and decisions now were ones she would also come to regret later.

Eda tried to quiet her mind as she once again found herself in her old Secret Room Of Shortcuts.

She was almost drifting off into a blissful state of unconsciousness when absolute chaos erupted within the walls of Hexside, echoing through the space of her hideout.

Eda was on her feet in an instant, sleep forgotten, certain that The Collector must have found their location, despite the warding.

Before she could even take a step to the nearest door however, she heard a familiar voice that shook her to her core.

It wasn’t The Collector.

BAM!

The nearest door slammed open, and King appeared through it.

“EDA! EDAAAAAAA!” he cried in sheer excitement. “THEY’RE BACK!”

A grinning human face popped through the door.

“Oh yeah!” Luz said. “Can’t keep a good witch down!”

“That doesn’t even make sense!” another voice said, and Amity’s face appeared next to Luz.

“LUZ?!?” Eda cried, tumbling through the door and wrapping her arm around the girl, half thinking she must have fallen asleep after all.

Luz was sopping wet as if she had been swimming but her grip was firm and grounding. She hung on to Eda for several long moments.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” Luz said in a broken voice. 

“Me too, kid,” Eda said, her own voice shaky.

Distantly, Eda was aware that they were in a hallway of lockers and Amity was being smothered by her siblings and father, Hunter was trying to protect a satchel slung across his shoulder as Darius wrapped him in a hug of his own, and everyone else was crowding around Willow and Gus to make sure they didn’t feel left out of the reunion.

“Steve and I made contact with your parents,” Katya said excitedly. “We’d be more than happy to get you back to them.”

All of the kids were soaking wet, but nobody cared.

To the side stood a nervous-looking basilisk and a determined-looking human woman who bore a striking resemblance to Luz. She too looked like she had been drenched, and was toweling off a large canvas bag with a symbol on it depicting a snake and the letter ‘V’ surrounding a staff.

Hooty was full on bawling, which came as no surprise and was weaving around, trying to wrap himself around all of the kids at once.

“How?” Eda said, stepping back just enough to look at Luz. “King said the Portal door was destroyed.”

“It was,” King said from where he had glommed onto Luz’s leg. “I saw it.”

“Oh we found a way back!” Luz said. “It was wild, though. I have so much to tell you but I don’t even know where to start! It’s bonkerballs!”

“You can start,” Eda said, tugging at Luz’s ponytail. “By telling me how your hair keeps getting longer. And why you’re dressed like a goth pirate.”

“Eda! Your…” Luz gestured at what was left of Eda’s right arm.

“Oh, always the topic of conversation right now, my arm,” Eda said, trying to flex the stump. “The good news is, I don’t have that nasty Coven sigil anymore…”

“Oh…I…” Luz said. “I mean, I guess that’s one way to get rid of it.”

“Ah, it was just an extra appendage to keep track of anyway.”

Luz looked like she wanted to inquire further, but Eda interrupted her train of thought.

“Kid, I still don’t understand how you got back. I don’t even know how long you’ve been gone. Kind of lost track of time with…everything.”

“It’s Halloween,” Luz supplied.

“That literally tells me nothing.”

“It’s a day you can travel between realms,” Gus piped up. “If you know how. The humans have an entire holiday around it.”

“That’s…” Eda said, slightly at a loss for words.

“Let’s just say,” Luz said. “That we figured out to take trick-or-treating to the next level.”

“Trick-or-treating? What are you talking about? I don’t know what that is.”

“And we’ve brought LOTS of human candy!” Willow said, holding up an enormous plastic pumpkin with a face drawn on it.

“Aw, kid,” Eda said to Luz. “Not like it hasn’t made my entire month to see you again, but why did you have to come back? You were safely out of this mess.”

“No offense, Eda,” Luz said. “But unless you’ve come up with a brilliant plan to defeat The Collector, we have the only thing that can fix this mess.”

“And what’s that…?”

“We’ll explain in a little while. First, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

She looked strangely nervous as she led Eda to the human woman standing in the hallway. Eda recognized her from pictures and from the shape Grom had taken, but she waited to be introduced.

Truth be told, she felt oddly nervous about this meeting herself.

“Uh,” Luz said, taking a deep breath. “This is my mom, Camila.”

“So you’re the infamous Owl Lady,” Camila said, holding out her hand. “You’re much taller than I expected.”

Recognizing the gesture, Eda grasped Camila’s hand firmly.

“Luz’s mom, we meet at last,” she said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Likewise,” Camila said. “I…I’m not going to lie, this is quite a lot for me to take in.”

“You’re doing better than most humans would! But I’m not surprised. If you’re anything like your daughter…”

“Luz is…much braver than I am,” Camila said, looking away. “This world seems terrifying to me.”

“Aw, it’s not so bad when there’s isn’t an all-powerful kid in space pajamas trashing it. You get used to it.”

“I’m not sure I could get used to it.”

“Oh!” Luz said, tapping the basilisk on the shoulder. “This is Vee. My sister-doppelganger-by-choice!”

“I’ve heard a lot about you, too,” Eda said.

“Vee,” Camila said. “Is also exceptionally brave. I have two very amazing girls.”

“Yes, you do,” Eda said.

“Oh give yourself some credit, Mama,” Luz said. “You’re way more badass than you think.”

“That’s the spirit!” Eda said. “I mean, you came to the Boiling Isles, Camila. That says something about your tenacity.”

“Well,” Camila said. “I wasn’t about to just send all these kids back to the… demon realm alone. Like it or not, I’m part of this now. So I’m bringing what I can to the table.”

She hoisted the canvas bag onto her shoulder.

***

Just when Eda had thought her life with King was going to be her entire future, along came the human.

Eda knew she was a little bit too lax about leaving the portal door between worlds open and unattended, but Luz had still been a surprise.

However, she had to admit that the kid was weird even for a human, and Eda had instantly liked her, even if it would be a little while before she admitted it to herself.

Not only that, but Luz had proven herself to be resourceful and clever right out of the gate (if a bit naive).

Granted, teaching magic to a human was not at the top of Eda’s to-do list, nor was it anywhere on said list. But she was up for a challenge, and knew it wouldn’t hurt to have some extra help around the house, especially since her curse had been slowing her down at a gradual, but steady pace.

Luz had just slipped into her life, gave it a much-needed shakeup and exceeded expectations.

Eda had watched her learn and succeed with a sense of pride.

Mentor.

That’s what Eda thought of herself as.

Teacher.

Wacky aunt. 

Wacky irresponsible aunt on a good day.

Although that “irresponsible” aspect started to get a lot more “responsible” than she cared to admit.

Damn kids.

So help her, she loved Luz like she did King: Fiercely.

Enough so that Lilith recognized it and realized that the way to get to Eda was through her.

She hadn’t counted on Luz getting through to Lilith.

The human would never stop surprising her.

Mentor somehow shifted to Caretaker.

She hardly dared say the term “Mom” out loud, or really in her head, but it was there, unspoken, waiting to be acknowledged.

And then there was the boy, the grimwalker. Hunter. 

The Golden Guard who had once threatened to throw King, Luz and Eda into the Boiling Sea, was just a kid himself.

He’d been an annoying and pretentious brat, but the night Eda had dragged him and Luz out of Belos’ mindscape, she saw beyond the facade.

Looking back at her was the ghost of every kid who’d been treated as an accessory and inconvenience by those who were supposed to nurture and support them.

And so, when Hunter had returned to the Boiling Isles, Eda made sure he knew he had a place at the Owl House whenever he needed it, no questions asked.

Grimwalkers were something of legend, something spoken of on occasion in hushed voices. Something no one ever actually expected to encounter.

It seemed fitting that Eda would adopt one into her strange little family to go with the human and the baby Titan.

Eda fell into the role of Mom, or perhaps the role fell into place around her. She wasn’t sure which.

Maybe the reason she felt that she didn’t fit the maternal archetype was because she was redefining the archetype itself, one fierce, high-heeled bootstep at a time.

And maybe, just maybe, Eda thought, as she lined up ingredients on the kitchen table with the help of Edric, Raine, Lilith and Luz, she could do the near-impossible and turn the tide for one more kid if allowed a last chance.

She’d already blown her other chances.

She’d fled when she should have stayed.

She’d been silent when she should have spoken up…

***

“This is fascinating,” Principal Bump said.

He was sitting on the edge of the stage next to Camila as she organized the contents of her bag.

Everyone was gathering in the auditorium for what was presumably an announcement from the kids about their return to the demon realm, but it was taking a while for everyone to stop talking excitedly and settle down to listen to what they had to say.

Camila’s bag wasn’t actually disorganized to begin with, but she felt very out of place and needed something to busy herself with.

Interacting with Eda was strange to say the least, as neither really seemed to know what to say to the other.

For some reason, however, Camila and Bump had managed to strike up friendly conversation.

“Truly fascinating,” Bump repeated, picking up one of the small, glass vials that Camila was lining up on the stage. He examined it closely, tilting it so the liquid inside sloshed back and forth. “I didn’t know that humans made potions.”

“It’s not a potion,” Camila said. “It’s midazolam. And be careful. It’s an anesthetic drug and I don’t know what it would do to a witch.”

“So it’s a sleeping potion,” Bump said.

“Not a potion, it’s a drug. And I need to keep track of all of these because if a whole bunch of controls go unaccounted for, the FDA and the state Board will have my head and I’ll lose my license.”

“So you’d be stripped of your rank and decapitated?”

“Something like that.”

“The human realm really isn’t that different from our own, then.”

“Well,” Camila said. “Aside from the magic and witchcraft…”

“Camila,” Bump said with a smile, waving his hands at the row of vials. “You have a collection of sleeping potions. How is that not magic?”

“They’re drugs. That’s science, not magic.”

“Isn’t that essentially the same thing?”

“Well…”

“You even carry them in a satchel with a protective sigil on it.”

“That’s the veterinary caduceus, it’s not…” Camila’s voice trailed off. “Okay, you make a fair point there, Principal. It is pretty witchy if you look at it.”

“And you think this, what did you call it? Veterinary witchcraft will help us?”

“Honestly,” Camila said. “I don’t know. But it is my skillset, and if we’re going into some kind of battle soon, I might as well play my strengths and bring what I know.”

When everyone had finally assembled in the auditorium, Luz, Amity, Willow, Hunter and Gus took the stage, along with King who was still clinging tightly to Luz’s leg (and had been for the past hour or so).

“Hello esteemed members of the resistance!” Luz cried, throwing her arms wide. “It is I, Luz The Human! Back at last to save the day!”

“YEAH!” King cried.

Both Amity and Hunter facepalmed in sync.

Luz laughed at the silence that followed her dramatic proclamation.

“Sorry,” she giggled. “I couldn’t resist. I’m just so glad to be back. Even if it is in the final act of Boiling Isles Apocalypse Two: Collector Boogaloo.”

Amity snorted as Hunter facepalmed again, this time with both hands, and groaned loudly.

“Do you understand any of that?” Bump asked Camila.

“Not a bit,” Camila said.

“What the human is trying to say,” Hunter said. “Is that while you have been hard at work trying to stay safe and protect The Boiling Isles residents, we have been hard at work in the human realm, researching how to defeat the entity known as The Collector. And I believe we have found the solution.”

“Go us!” Luz said. 

“It turns out,” Willow said. “That The Collector’s legend and influence isn’t limited to the Boiling Isles and the Titan Trappers. They are a well-known, storied figure in the human realm as well.”

“It took us a while to figure that out, though,” Gus said. “Because they’re known by a different name in the human realm.”

“As far as we can tell,” Amity said. “The Collector has never actually had a physical presence in the human world, so the stories probably slipped through from the demon realm.”

“There’s…always been a bit of leakage between realms,” Luz said. “And that leakage became stuff of human myth and legend. That’s one of the first things Eda ever taught me.”

Eda beamed from her seat in the auditorium. 

“Funny,” Luz said. “I couldn’t have imagined at the time how important that piece of information would be. Anyway, while we were trapped the past weeks, we did a bit of traveling…”

“And a bit of digging,” Amity added.

“Literally!” cried Gus.

“Aaaaand,” Willow continued. “Long story short, we found…” she gestured towards Hunter. “Hunter, if you will…”

“Gladly,” Hunter said, reaching into his satchel and producing what appeared to be a large, mirror-like disc with a crescent moon etched on it.

Next to Eda, Lilith gasped.

“That looks just like the disc Phillip dug up,” she whispered.

“This,” Hunter continued. “As King has probably informed you, functions as a portal to The Collector’s holding prison. Legend says there were originally a number of these portal discs, but all but two had been destroyed. King tells me the other one was broken on the Day Of Unity. So this is the last one, and quite possibly our last hope.”

“Our plan,” Amity said. “Is to use the disc to send The Collector back where they came from. Then we destroy this disc as well.”

“That way,” Gus said. “The Collector won’t even be able to project themself back into our world or any other, so there won’t be a chance of them escaping again in the future.”

Eda opened her mouth to protest, but couldn’t quite articulate what it was she wanted to say before Amity was speaking again.

“Then,” Amity said. “We can focus our efforts on rebuilding the Boiling Isles. With both Belos and The Collector gone, we can start from scratch and build a new and better society for all of magic-kind.”

The kids looked expectantly at their audience. There were murmurs among the crowd.

“Impressive,” Darius said. “You have been busy. I hope you don’t mind my saying this, but there are a few fairly glaring holes in this plan.”

“We were hoping some of you might have ideas for how to fix that,” Willow said. 

“Well, first of all,” Darius said. “There’s the matter of activating whatever magic allows The Collector to pass through this…portal? Mirror? Disc? Whatever we’re calling it now…”

“That’s where I come in,” King said. “As I’ve told all of you recently, if I can touch both the disc and The Collector at the same time, I believe it will pull them back through.”

“That’s a big if, though,” Steve said. “I don’t like it.”

“The Collector would kill you multiple times over by the time you could even think about managing that,” Adrian said.

“Yeah,” Eda agreed. “I’m not letting you do that, King.”

“I managed to trick them before,” King said. “I could do it again.”

“Absolutely not,” Eda said. “I’m putting my foot down. Both my feet, in fact, since I still have two of those.”

“If I may,” Vee said, voice wavering slightly as she spoke up. “I think I could be of assistance.”

“How?” Alador asked.

“I’m a basilisk. I consume magic. If I consume enough of The Collector’s magic, it should temporarily depower them enough that they won’t pose a danger to King.”

“Not bad,” Katya said.

“Isn’t that a LOT of magic to consume, though?” Hooty asked. “And I’m saying that as someone who regularly consumes technically inedible objects.

“I’m very hungry,” Vee said simply.

“I can relate to that,” Hooty said. “Buuuuuuutt are you hungry enough to eat a whole nuclear reactor? Because I’m preeettttyyyyy sure The Collector’ power is the magical equivalent.”

“Who’s been teaching Hooty about nuclear reactors?” Luz asked.

“He makes a good point,” Lilith said. “You may be underestimating the strength of The Collector’s powers.”

“You may be underestimating how hungry I am,” Vee said irritably. “I haven’t had a proper magical meal in months.”

“That’s all well and good,” Odalia piped up. “But you haven’t seen this nightmare child. You’d still have to get close enough to them to drain their magic, and they’ll annihilate you the second they realize what you’re doing. So your plans are very cute, but they are useless against an all-powerful god.”

“With…with all due respect,” King began.

“Trust me,” Amity muttered. “None is due.”

“Or not,” King continued. “The Collector does have a weakness we may be able to use to our advantage. They…they fell asleep to a music box when I was with them. If we can get them to sleep, then Vee should be able to get close enough to drain their power, and then I can safely catch them.”

There was the musical twang of a string.

“I think I can help with that,” Raine said, holding up their violin. 

“Perfect!” King said.

“We ride at dawn!” Luz cried.

“What…” Amity asked. “What does that even mean?”

“It’s…it’s a human quote thing…”

“Then!” Gus yelled enthusiastically. “I too say we ride at dawn!”

***

Eda made her way King and Luz were trying to catch each other up on the events of the past weeks.

The two were speaking as quickly as possible and thoroughly confusing each other on what had actually occurred.

“Well look at you, King,” Eda said. “Commanding armies.”

“Yeah he is!” Luz said proudly.

“I…” King said. “Huh. I guess I am. Funny, it just doesn’t feel as glorious as I always thought it would.”

If anything, he sounded a little dejected thinking about it.

“Aw, don’t worry, buddy,” Luz said, hugging him. “This is bound to go a lot better than our Day Of Unity fiasco. I know you’ve got this. We’ve got this.”

“It’s not that,” King said. “I…I don’t…Luz, I know I came up with this plan too but I’m not sure I can look that kid in the eye and send them back to their prison cell.”

“I’m glad to hear you say it,” Eda said. “Because I don’t like this plan at all.”

“Well,” Luz said. “If Raine’s spell is successful, you won’t have to look them in the eye. They’ll be asleep.”

“That…just makes it worse. It almost feels even more monstrous. Makes me feel like the monster.”

“But you’re not.”

“Luz, I’m commanding armies against one little kid.”

“But they’re not…actually a kid, right?” Luz said. “They just take that form to catch their enemies off guard.”

“Is that what they say in the human realm?” Eda asked.

“Well, no…” Luz admitted. “It’s not. But…it’s what Belos did when we were in his mind. Pretended to be a kid to trick us. And…and…The Collector actively wanted to ravage the Boiling Isles. They were gleeful about it.”

“The Collector is dangerous,” Eda said. “We all know that. But they are a child. I’ve met them, Luz. They don’t understand that their actions are anything more than a deranged game. They are a child with more power than guidance.”

“But they can’t be though,” Luz said. “They just…”

“Why not?” Eda asked.

“Because,” Luz said. “Then…then…we’d be sentencing a…a KID into eternal solitary confinement.”

***

The sun was low on the horizon when Edric left, taking the music box with him to tinker with before everyone reconvened the following night.

Raine had gone to bed early, complaining of a headache, and Lilith was sitting on the doorstep with Hooty, writing something that the two of them were collaborating on and seemed to think was truly hilarious.

Eda smiled to herself as their laughter carried faintly into the kitchen.

At the table, all the research and spell materials now pushed to the side, sat Luz and King, who were eating a pizza.

Luz had taken great glee in the fact that the wifi through her recently-constructed portal door was good enough to order a pizza.

Of course, she hadn’t gone so far as to have the pizza delivered to the portal door (although she’d laughed and laughed at the prospect of doing so). Instead, she’d taken King on a field trip to go pick up the pizza, and he’d finally gotten to experience Winter in the human realm.

And now he was getting to experience pizza, and was very happy about how his day was going.

“Eda, you have got to learn how to make this!” King said around his third slice. “It’s incredible. Humans really are masters of nasty, weird food.”

“And what am I supposed to do with this greasy, flat box you’ve gifted me with?” Eda asked. “Sell it as a human heirloom?”

“Just stuff it behind the trash can and forget about it until you get another one,” Luz said happily, munching on her own slice of pizza. “That’s what humans do.”

“Yeah, I am not starting a collection of pizza boxes behind the trash can - or anywhere else in this house. Seriously, look at this cardboard. It’s saturated with grease. You’re putting that in your stomach? And isn’t that amount of cheese gonna’ mess with your whole lactose intolerance thing?”

“She took a bunch of pills for it ahead of time,” King said.

“Greasy cheese now,” Luz said. “Regret later.”

Eda pulled up a chair and sat down.

“We need to talk, you two…”

“That sounds…ominous,” Luz said. “I didn’t think a greasy pizza box would get this much of a rise out of you.”

“I’m always ominous,” Eda teased. “But this isn’t about the pizza. I need to tell you something I should have told you weeks ago. I think we’ve all been avoiding it.”

“Oh,” Luz said.

“Weh?” King asked in confusion.

“I never told you what happened, King,” Eda said. “The day we set out to trap The Collector.”

Chapter Text

It began auspiciously enough.

Terra Snapdragon and her cohorts, like everyone else, had obviously done something to anger The Collector, who had subsequently exploded an enormous chunk of land and then flown off, leaving a very obvious swath of damage in their wake.

Lilith, searched from the air, but the trail of destruction was easy to follow by the company on the ground.

“Wow,” Luz observed. “It’s like everything got torn up by a hundred transformer bulldozers on steroids.”

“I still don’t like this,” Eda confided to Raine. “It just doesn’t make sense trying to trap this kid back in a prison.”

“Well, it’s not like I like it, either,” Raine admitted. “I don’t think any of us do. But what choice do we have? Look at this.”

They waved their hand at the trench they were walking through. Trees and buildings had been ripped apart and flung outward in every direction.

A few paces back, Amity fell into step beside Luz.

“What if Eda’s right, Luz,” she said, sounding apprehensive. “We’ve just been assuming we’re dealing with a trickster god taking the form of a child. But…you’ve read the stories. You heard what King said.”

“They don’t seem very trickster-y,” Luz agreed. “But…we all saw what they did to Belos without a second thought. And…when I saw The Collector in Belos’ memories…they just didn’t come across as an innocent child.”

“Nobody’s saying they’re innocent,” Amity said, taking Luz’s hand and squeezing it. “Being a kid doesn’t automatically make them innocent. But…if they are a kid, then that means there’s a lot of stuff they don’t comprehend yet, and we shouldn’t be treating them like an adult.”

“Which is what we’re doing right now,” Luz said, looking down. 

Ahead of them, Eda had moved on to expressing her concerns hurriedly to Darius.

“Really?” he said. “You couldn’t have brought this up during the planning stages?”

“Well I’m bringing it up now,” Eda said.

“It’s not like I don’t sympathise,” Darius said. “And if you have an alternative solution, by all means share. I’m open to suggestions. But at this point, I don’t think this kid is going to listen to reason.”

“Has anyone tried talking to them?” Eda asked. “Has anyone, at any point actually been sincere with them?”

“Eda, I don’t know!” Darius said, frustrated. “I’m not disagreeing that The Collector has been used and abused and treated like utter garbage. It’s a horrible situation but my focus has to be on protecting the citizens of the Isles. I’ve had to make hard choices that nobody should ever have to make and…and…this isn’t the first time I’ve had to…to choose between one life and the life of everyone else on the Isles.”

“Hey,” Amity said. “This is just like that space movie you showed me back in the human realm. What was it, ‘the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one’?”

“Which,” Gus pointed out, joining the conversation. “The next movie totally did a one-eighty on.”

The party eventually located The Collector at the base of a long hill a few hundred yards away from a thick forest that they hadn’t blown up yet. As luck would have it, there was also a knoll that allowed a good vantage point of the area, upon which Katya drew a massive cloaking sigil, which would hide the entire company from view.

To everyone’s relief, The Collector appeared to be alone now, pacing erratically and repeatedly clenching and unclenching their fists.

“Well,” Raine said, manifesting their violin and bow. “Let’s hope this works.”

“What if I just went down and talked to them?” Eda said, looking around at the deserted rubble and empty hill. 

A leaf from the nearby woods blew across The Collector’s field of vision and they pointed at it.

“Bzzzzt!” they said, and the leaf was immediately incinerated.

“Absolutely not,” Darius said to Eda.

“I’d like to believe talking to them would work,” Raine said. “I really would. But I can’t let you risk your life.”

And they began to play.

The music was surprisingly quiet, carrying on the breeze so it was only barely noticeable to the child below.

They did look up, but seeing no one, their gaze didn’t linger, and they couldn’t locate the source of the strangely-intoxicating tune.

They did, however, very much like the music, and it filled them with a feeling they hadn’t had since their night at the Owl House.

So much had happened since then, betrayal after betrayal. 

The Collector hung onto the music, willing it not to fade away.

It made them feel safe.

“I think,” Camila said from the knoll, where she was watching with the others. “I think it’s working.”

Raine continued to play, directing their magic towards The Collector alone and not everyone else, which took a not-insignificant amount of concentration.

“Are you sure about this, Vee?” Camila asked.

“No,” Vee admitted. “But I have to do it. Everyone’s counting on me.”

“Can you do it from this distance?” Lilith asked.

“The Collector’s magic is strong,” Vee said. “I can smell it from here. But I need to get closer.”

Camila hugged her.

“Be careful,” she said. “And hurry right back here if anything even feels like it’s going to go wrong.”

“Thanks, Camila,” Vee said.

Then, she turned and hurried down through the debris towards the sleeping Collector.

“They really do look like a little kid,” Camilla said worriedly.

“They are,” Eda told her, sighing heavily. “A very, very powerful little kid.”

“Luz told me you had some sort of ethical reservations about this,” Camila said. “I think I’m beginning to see why.”

Eda turned to look at her. She and Camila had spoken very little, the awkward and unsure tension a bit too uncomfortable. Now, however, she had the distinct feeling that this was someone that she could confide in.

“I just have this really bad feeling,” Eda said. “That we’re making a terrible mistake. But I just don’t see a way out of it.”

Camila started to speak, but her attention was snapped away by a pained sound from Vee, who had already begun her task.

In an instant, she dashed away from Eda, out of the protected circle and rushed to the side of her adopted daughter.

Darius looked like he wanted to shout something to her, but didn’t dare for fear of waking The Collector.

Vee was on her side, curled up and clutching her stomach.

“Vee!” Camila whispered, crouching down beside her.

“It’s so strong,” Vee whimpered. “Hooty was right, it’s like eating a nuclear reactor.”

“Then stop! Don’t do this to yourself. We’ll find another way.”

“There is no other way, Mom! I have to keep going!”

Vee continued to siphon The Collector’s power, shuddering.

“Not at your own expense, you don’t!” Camila said.

“What’s one basilisk worth anyway,” Vee said, shaking violently. “I wasn’t even supposed to exist! My entire reason for being brought into this world was for Belos to learn how to destroy it!” 

She jerked, as if having a seizure, but didn’t stop the flow of magic.

“But now,” she continued. “I can choose who to be, and I can choose to be the one who saves this world!”

“Not. Like. This!” Camila said desperately. “Stop it! LUZ! Stop her!”

“Shut up,” Vee said. “Let me do this.”

She continued to jerk violently, curling in on herself and glowing with the magic she was consuming, heat radiating out of her body.

Luz rushed to her side.

“Stop it, Vee!” she hissed. “You’re being ridiculous! I just got a sister and I don’t want to lose her!”

“I’ve…almost…got it…” Vee panted, before rolling over and passing out.

“Vee!” Luz cried, shaking her.

“She has a pulse,” Camila said, checking quickly. “Get me my bag.”

“Already on it.”

Luz slapped a glyph and plant tendrils snaked out and wrapped themselves around Camila’s medical bag.

“I will never get used to this,” Camila said, watching as Luz used the vines to pull the bag towards them.

“You better,” Luz said. “I’m a witch, now. Your bag, Mama.”

She held out the bag and Camila took it.

“You’re incredible. Truly incredible. Now let’s see…I’ve never treated a magic toxicity case before.”

From up the hill, Adrian made a slightly-derisive sound.

“Show-off,” he said. “The human’s magic doesn’t even have finesse. It’s all clunky and overblown.”

“Watch it, Vernworth,” Eda snapped.

Eberwolf growled savagely.

“Oh right,” Adrian said. “You mentored her, didn’t you. Pardon my honesty, Owl Lady, but it shows.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Eda asked.

“You know exactly what it means. Darius? Remind me why we allowed children and humans and powerless witches on a mission as important as this?”

Eberwolf made a rude gesture.

“Adrian,” Darius said tiredly.

“The real question,” Gus said, stepping forward. “Is why we allowed a witch on this mission who tried to force kids into getting branded with a sigil that would literally kill them.”

“And now was I supposed to know that at the time?” Adrian retorted. “Hmmmm?”

Even so, he still looked at Gus warily. Clearly, he hadn’t forgotten what had happened at Hexside.

“Agustus, please,” Darius said. “Let’s not right now?”

“What’s that noise?” Amity asked. 

“The human just performed magic,” Gus continued, ignoring Darius. “You’re just embarrassing yourself by criticizing her, disgraced Head Witch.”

“Oh,” Lilith said. “Burn.”

“Human-style high-fives!” Emira said as she and Edric flanked Gus and each held up a hand.

“I’m serious,” Darius protested. “This is not the time. If everyone could stop this petty snark, right now, the migraine you’re all giving me would appreciate it.”

“I think,” Hunter interrupted. “That Vee did manage to drain enough of The Collector’s power that King should be safe now.”

Willow crouched down and put a hand on King’s shoulder.

“Are you ready, King?” she asked.

King shook his head.

“No,” he said. “But I guess I’m doing this anyway.”

Hunter crouched down as well, removing the satchel from where it was slung across his shoulder.

“Belos always said he could talk to the Titan,” he said. “Kept saying he knew the Titan’s will. That was just another lie, obviously. But, it seems fitting that I can talk to you now. What you do now is your own decision, your own will. I won’t speak for you.”

Hunter drew the mirrored disc from the bag and handed it to King.

“I trust you with this, little guy,” he said. 

King held the disc and stared momentarily at his own reflection within it. He looked distant and expressionless.

In the reflection, he saw Eda sit down just behind him.

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, King,” she said, putting her hand on his back. “We’ll find another way.”

“But if you’re going to do this,” Hunter said. “You need to do it now. As far as we can tell, The Collector generates their own magic and nobody knows how long it will take for them to recover.”

“There is no other way,” King said flatly. “Just let me get this over with.”

“We’re so proud of you, King,” Willow said.

“Thank you,” King said, and resolutely turned to go.

There was an odd sound like distant thunder.

“Seriously,” Amity said. “Does anyone else hear that?”

‘Don’t do this. Stop. This isn’t right!’

The words were on the tip of Eda’s tongue, screaming to be said. She should speak up. She needed to speak up. Now was the time, and there wouldn’t be another chance.

She opened her mouth once, twice, taking a breath, on the verge of speaking.

But each time, the protest died in her throat and she couldn’t get the words out.

She had to say something now.

But King was already hurrying down towards The Collector, disc in hand.

“I sure hope this works,” Hunter said.

“You okay, Eda?”

It was Raine behind her, looking concerned. 

Of course it was. 

They had stopped playing, the spell having already been successfully cast.

“You think we should call this off,” they said.

“Bit late for that now, Rainestorm,” Eda said, voice tight. “King’s right, this is how it has to be.”

She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself and Raine thought to question her. Ask if that was really how she felt. But it was too late now, and raising questions might only serve to upset Eda even more. The best they could do was offer comfort to their friend.

“It’s better this way,” they said instead, an unspoken apology left off at the end.

Luz gave King a thumbs-up from where she and Camila seemed to have Vee stabilized, although still very much unconscious.

He gave them a nod, walking past and approaching The Collector.

The Collector stirred, even as King stepped as slowly and quietly as possible. They were a small bundle of purple robes and looked quite out of place in the center of the mayhem they had wrought.

He desperately wanted to abandon his mission, but he couldn’t flake out now. The entire realm was continuing on him, though.

But Hunter had said this was ultimately King’s decision, and King’s decision alone.

And Eda…Eda wouldn’t judge him. She’d said he didn’t have to do this…

The Collector blinked awake, a frown creasing their forehead as they raised their head to see him not a foot away.

“...King…?” they said, momentarily confused and still sleepy. 

They continued to blink and take in their surroundings.

The moment they recognized the disc that King was carrying, their eyes widened and they shot upright, scrambling backwards.

“Why do you have that?! Get that thing away from me!!”

They held up their palm defensively.

“I’m sorry, Collector,” King said, his worst fears for this mission realized and staring him in the face.

“NO!” The Collector shouted. “Where did you get that! You can’t send me back there! I won’t go!”

They jumped into the air and fell right back down, wincing as they hit the ground hard.

“What did you DO?!?” they shouted.

The distant rumbling grew steadily louder.

King didn’t know what to say. What could he possibly say? He was locked in, he had to complete his task. 

Best to just get it over with.

He moved forward quickly.

“No! Stay BACK!” The Collector said, getting to their feet and stumbling backwards. “You said you were my FRIEND!”

“Just calm down,” King said, for all the good that would do. “You’re just making this harder.”

“You LIED! You just wanted me to do your dirty work just LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! Everyone’s just LYING TO ME! I just wanted to PLAY WITH YOU!”

The Collector was almost crying now.

“I really am sorry,” King repeated. “I wish I didn’t have to do this, but you’re too dangerous to be here.”

“You sound like your dad! YOU’RE NO BETTER THAN HIM! He betrayed me TOO! Stay AWAY!”

The Collector turned to run and King made to leap at them but then they both froze as the ground beneath them began to shake, the rumbling sound now recognizable as dozens of thundering footsteps and battle cries.

King and The Collector exchanged a look.

Then, over the long rolling hill above them swarmed the entire forces of the Titan Trappers.

“THERE IT IS!” roared Tarak, pointing at King. “The Grand Huntsman has it cornered! MOVE IN!”

“For faith and glory!” Bill shouted.

“FOR FAITH AND GLORY!” echoed the rest of the hoard. 

King dropped the disc and fled, an all-consuming fear overtaking him.

Vaguely, he was aware that he was running in the wrong direction - towards the woods and away from the knoll where his friends and allies were waiting.

But he couldn’t stop moving. He didn’t even have enough breath to send his powerful cry at the pursuers.

All he could hear was a roar, maybe that of his own blood pumping through his veins, punctuated by cries of “GET THE TITAN!” “DON’T LET IT GET AWAY!” and “IN THE NAME OF THE GRAND HUNTSMAN!”

The Grand Huntsman themself, waved their arms and shouted at the trappers but was largely ignored and pushed to the side as the hunt zeroed in on the fleeing King.

“Wait!” The Collector shouted, leaping forward into the air only to drop back down, once again hitting the ground very hard. “Wait for me!”

They scrambled to their feet and ran after the Trappers and King as fast as their legs could carry them.

They weren’t fast enough. They weren’t nearly fast enough.

“Wait…” they panted, gasping for air. “I…have to…lead…the hunt. I’m…your leader.”

King was making progress out of sheer desperation, but the Trappers were quickly closing on him.

And then, Bill split from the group, darting to the side and hurling what looked something like a javelin with a spiked metal ball on the end where a sharpened tip would ordinarily be.

His aim was true and the weapon hit King with full force, flinging him a short distance to the side, where he dropped instantly and didn’t move.

“Whoah,” The Collector panted, finally arriving at the scene and bending over to hold their knees while they caught their breath. “That was a great shot, Bill.”

They turned towards where King was lying, unmoving.

“See,” they said. “That’s what you GET for being a TRAITOR, King. No hard feelings, though. We can still be friends.”

They made a counterclockwise motion at King with their hand and pinched their fingers together.

Nothing happened.

The Collector frowned, repeating the gesture, slightly more forcefully this time.

“Why isn’t this WORKING?” they demanded.

The Trappers stood aside as The Collector stomped over to King, dropping to their knees and shaking him roughly.

“Hey, silly,” they said. “Quit playing around. I forgive you, okay? Geez you’re a sore loser.”

Their shaking met with no resistance, and King’s fur was fast becoming soaked in sticky, blue blood.

Hands now covered in the substance, The Collector once again made the counterclockwise motion, screwing up their face in concentration.

Once again, it was to no avail.

“Come on,” they shook King again and he flopped back and forth limply. “Come on, wake up. I’m not mad, I promise. I swear! I pinky-sweeear!”

The Collector’s voice was fast becoming a desperate whine.

Again, a counterclockwise hand gesture, this time more jerky.

“King? King? Kiiiiiiiiiing!”

They stared disbelievingly at the lifeless form, petting the sticky fur, lifting it’s head and shaking it.

Their eyes flicked up to the Titan Trappers who were standing back, unsure, questioning.

“Bring him back,” The Collector demanded. “Bring him BACK!”

The Trappers took several steps backwards.

“I SAID BRING HIM BACK!” The Collector screamed. “I WANT HIM BACK!”

“Only…” Tarak began worriedly. “Only you have that power, Grand Huntsman.”

“Oh for the sake of yourself, get over it,” Bill said in annoyance, stepping forward. “Quit being a wimp, Huntsman. I didn’t come here to listen to you throw a bleeding-heart temper tantrum. I want that Titan’s skull, and you’ve already ruined its pelt smearing it with blood like that.”

The Collector looked back and forth between Bill and King, wearing a look of complete shock and disbelief. Desperation gave way to an overwhelming onslaught of emotion.

The Collector clutched King’s fur, took shuddering breath and screamed at the top of their lungs. Even with their magic drained, the sound was still otherworldly and it echoed for miles in every direction, perhaps to the far reaches of the island itself.

Something large was running at them fast, gaining ground and flapping massive wings.

The Collector looked up to see Eda in full harpy form rushing up on them, expression focused, teeth bared. They shrank down as she approached, still holding onto King.

Eda leaping and collided with Bill at full force, claws tearing through his armor as she slammed him into the ground again and again and again.

The Collector watched wide-eyed as Eda flung Bill to the side, and launched herself at the next Titan Trapper who was much larger, but was caught off-guard and was no match for a harpy at close range.

A third Trapper ran forward to take a swing at Eda, but Raine leaped between them, Violin at the ready, drawing their bow across the strings and sending a musical wave of force directly at him.

Two other Trappers joined in and Raine sent forth a flurry of weaponized musical notes.

Eda took out Trapper after Trapper, and Tarak rushed forward, only to be tripped up by abomination goo wielded by Alador.

Lilith flew in, sending glyph-powered ice and vines at the advancing Trappers.

The battle had begun and it wasn’t a battle that anyone had anticipated when the day began.

“LUZ!” Amity cried, jumping into the fray and launching an abomination of her own at an approaching warrior who was heading for Luz, who was screaming and trying to wrestle The Collector off of King’s body, which they were refusing to let go of.

Claws and teeth at the ready, Eberwolf leaped onto the closest Titan Trapper and began biting them, while Adrian manifested the illusion of multiple versions of himself with various dangerous-looking weapons running through the army. 

Darius swung an abomination scythe arm as he stormed into the battle, forcing those around him to duck and dodge out of the way.

“I don’t have TIME for this Titandammed NONSENSE!” he screamed.

The rage that Eda felt coursing through her veins as she flung yet another Trapper to the ground as if they were a ragdoll, was all-consuming and overpowering.

For once, her fear, her anger, her drive exactly matched that of the Owl Beast and, as she flung the unnamed Trapper one last time, Eda felt her consciousness begin to mesh more tightly with the Beast’s.

She wasn’t sure where her own thoughts and motivations ended and the Owl Beast’s began. It was as if they were one creature.

She took in the fighting around her through a haze of grief and bloodlust, Willow yanking back attackers, Luz now crouched over King while The Collector pummeled her with their fists.

Nearby, Darius swatted away another adversary and scooped up the mirror disc, just barely saving it from being trampled.

While The Collector had been focused on King, Darius’ move did not go unnoticed.

“When I woke up this morning!” Darius said loudly. “Did I think ‘Hey, today would be a GREAT day to go to war with the entire Titan Trapper Island armed forces’? NO! I DIDN’T! Why would I even consider that?”

“Well you can thank the Owl Lady for this!” Adrian shouted. “She started it!”

“They killed her son!” Amity shouted back. “She retaliated!”

“Can someone get the kids off the battlefield?!?” Alador raged.

Eda and the Owl Beast turned towards The Collector, magic-bile-fueled-adrenaline intertwined, anger surging through their shared body.

The Collector looked from King, to Darius and the disc, and then to the harpy-creature whose attention had just zeroed in on them, and panicked.

They turned and ran, trying to take flight but still unable as their magic hadn’t remotely started to return yet.

They fled as fast as they could towards the treeline.

Eda felt something trip in the Owl Beast’s head - in her own head now - the moment they saw The Collector running away. It was an instinct, a drive, channeling all the fear and grief into a pounding litany of ‘CHASE! CHASE! CHASE!’

Eda felt herself be taken by it, giving in to the near-inescapable desire to pursue and hurt the creature who had hurt her.

‘CHASE! ENEMY! HUNT! CHASE! KILL!’ 

Something felt wrong.

‘CHASE! CATCH! KILL! ENEMY!’

No, these weren’t Eda’s thoughts. She was angry, she was distraught, but she didn’t want to…

‘KILL THEM!’

“No.”

With more than a little difficulty, Eda separated her consciousness from that of the Owl Beast.

To her distress, the Beast tried to take control and push her back down into the subconscious space they usually inhabited.

“No!”

She couldn’t lose control! Couldn’t completely transform into the Owl Beast now!

With everything she had, Eda grabbed hold of the Beast, screaming as they raged, their desire to chase and kill overtaking any other thoughts.

“No you DON’T!” Eda screamed, holding them in place. “No. More. Kids. Are. Dying. Today.”

‘Enemy! Enemy! Destroy Enemy!’

“Not enemy! Child! Child!”

The Owl Beast screeched and Eda couldn’t help the pang of guilt she felt as she forced them back down within her mind.

The Collector reached the edge of the forest just ahead of Eda, foot catching on a tree root and tripping them.

They tumbled to the ground, so winded they were barely able to cry out.

Eda stopped, bracing herself against her own anger and the last fading remnants of the Owl Beast’s instincts, as she loomed over The Collector. She was still in harpy mode, but she felt that form slipping away as the Beast retreated.

And then it was Eda, no less imposing in her own form, standing over a fallen kid who was lying in a defeated heap, whimpering and pleading.

“I don’t wanna’ go back! I don’t wanna’ go back! Don’t send me back! Don’t send me back! Please! Don’t make me go back there…”

“Hey, hey,” Eda said quietly as she knelt down. “Easyyyy, kid.”

The Collector crawled backwards, trying to get away from her but getting tangled in their own robes. Their face was streaked with tears and snot.

“I don’t wanna’ go back,” they repeated. “I DON’T WANNA’ GO BACK THERE! Don’t send me back.”

“Calm down,” Eda said. “It’s okay. Nobody’s sending you anywhere.”

Tears continued to roll down The Collector’s cheeks.

“You’re LYING!” they cried. “You lied to me before! You said you’d play with me! You ALL lied! Phillip! Bill! Kiki! Odalia! Terra! King won’t come back and EVERYONE LIED! You’re just going to put me back in PRISON!”

“I’m not.”

“You’re a LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!”

“Easy, easy,” Eda repeated. “Shhhhh.”

She reached out in an attempt at comfort, but The Collector flinched so hard that she withdrew her hand before making contact. It probably didn’t help that her hand was covered in Titan Trapper blood.

This did, however, have the benefit of silencing The Collector long enough for Eda to get a word in.

“I’m sorry, Collector,” she said. “I did…you’re right. I did lie to you before. I was scared…” she felt her composure plummeting as she remembered that her fear had been for King’s safety.

And now King was…was… 

“This is all my fault,” Eda sobbed. “I was wrong. Abandoning you…it was a terrible mistake and…and I regret…”

She felt herself break, unable to speak as her breath kept catching.

No. No, she couldn’t do this now.

She fought to pull herself together.

Across the way, she saw Darius and Lilith zero in on her.

The Collector saw it too.

“Don’t let them send me back,” they begged Eda. “I don’t wanna’ be alone. I don’t wanna’ be alone.”

“I won’t let them send you back,” Eda said reassuringly. “I’m not going to leave you alone again. Okay?”

The Collector hid their hands in their sleeves and looked away, like they wanted badly to say something but were afraid to.

Then, their voice a barely audible whisper…

“...promise?”

“I promise,” Eda told them.

The Collector held out a shaking hand, still encrusted with drying blue blood, little finger extended.

“Pinky swear?”

They looked like they didn’t dare hope.

Eda didn’t hesitate, she mirrored the gesture and linked her own blood-soaked pinkie with The Collector’s, heart nearly breaking when she felt their finger curl tightly around her own.

Magickind had all manner of power-locked deals and everlasting oaths, and yet the most powerful being in existence relied on a gesture that was not binding in any way, shape or form.

Even if they had full access to their powers, pinkie swears had no magical significance whatsoever. In the same way that The Collector had assumed that everyone actually wanted to play with them, they had put all their trust into assuming that a promise they themself held sacred would be held sacred by all others.

Eda squeezed The Collector’s little finger tightly, resolving to treat this as she would the most unbreakable of everlasting oaths.

“Collector,” she said firmly, and seriously. “I promise that I will protect you.”

“And you won’t leave me alone again?”

“I promise I will not leave you alone again. You are under my protection, and I only ask for your trust.”

The Collector’s eyes widened at her request. They were used to having their so-called friends tack caveats and conditions onto swears, but this was a surprise…and somehow harder to agree to.

“You don’t have to promise if you don’t want to,” Eda said quickly. “I’ll still uphold my end.”

“I promise!” The Collector blurted out, their voice full of panicked desperation. “I trust you, I trust you, I trust you. Just don’t send me back, don’t let them send me back.”

They held onto Eda’s finger with all of their might, pouring out the last dregs of trust that they had left.

Chapter Text

The battle raged too close for comfort.

Amity, Hunter, Willow and Gus formed a defensive arc in front of where Luz was crouched over King’s motionless form with her mom’s stethoscope.

The sounds of conflict were too loud to hear much of anything, and Luz couldn’t be certain whether the faint beat she felt in her fingertips wasn’t just her own pulse.

With a shout of frustration, she ripped the stethoscope off her ears and slammed it furiously onto the ground with her fist.

She instantly regretted it, remembering that it wasn’t an indestructible instrument. But that thought vanished when there was the sound of a rumbling explosion and she realized too late that she’d landed her fist on a plant glyph.

“MOVE!” she shouted, grabbing King and rushing out of the way as the largest tree she’d ever seen in her life erupted out of the ground and rushed towards the sky.

Her friends barely got out of the way in time and the branches took out a swath of Titan Trappers on their own.

“What,” Willow cried. “Did you do?”

“P…plant glyph…?” Luz said weakly as the tree grew to the size of a skyscraper in both girth and height.

“Plant glyphs don’t do that!” Willow said. “I don’t know any plant magic that does that!”

“Even the tree we made at Grom wasn’t like that ,” Amity said. “Wait!” She grabbed Luz’s palm. “You have King’s blood all over your hands.”

The two looked at each other.

“Titan’s blood,” they said in unison.

Luz carefully set King down at the base of the tree.

“It’s time to end this,” she said darkly. “CITIZENS OF THE BOILING ISLES! RETREAT! RETREAT!”

The sudden appearance of a tree roughly the size of a small castle had momentarily stopped the fighting and, to Luz’s relief, her allies listened to her and disengaged, retreating from the army of Titan Trappers as fast as they could.

“OKAY TITAN TRAPPERS!” Luz shouted, picking up the weapon that Bill had hit King with in one hand and a stack of glyphs in her other. “YOU’RE NO LONGER WELCOME HERE! YOU’VE MURDERED ONE OF OUR OWN UNPROVOKED, AND THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING! I WON’T HOLD BACK!”

A number of the Trappers were already making a hasty getaway towards Bonesborough and the bridge back to their own island.

A few hundred yards away, Vee stirred, sitting up suddenly, dry-heaving.

“Vee!” Camila said, putting a hand on her back. “Are you alright?”

Vee didn’t speak. Instead she retched, and gave an enormous heave.

Nothing physical was produced. Instead what came out was a shockwave of raw energy that blasted out a crater in front of her, and out towards the Titan Trapper army.

The Trappers who hadn’t heeded Luz’s warning, definitely took notice of the blast - as it knocked a few dozen of them off their feet.

Vee purged again and again, creating more craters and causing the Trappers to run in order to avoid falling into fissures forming in the ground.

“AND STAY OUT!” Luz shouted after them.

From the treeline, Eda and The Collector watched as Luz used the spiked javelin to send a literal glacier racing up the hill and after the fleeing army, followed by a roiling wall of flame.”

“Damn,” Eda said, choking back tears.

“King,” The Collector said softly. 

“Don’t,” Eda said. “Not right now. I can’t…”

For lack of anything better to use, she was cleaning off The Collector’s face with her sleeve.

Keeping her emotions at bay was imperative, at least for the moment, but she couldn’t deny that she had some complicated feelings since the child she’d sworn to protect was also, however indirectly, the source of her pain.

However, when Eda looked at The Collector, the anger, fear and grief that she felt was reflected back at her tenfold.

She sighed heavily, and continued wiping away tear stains. The Collector seemed truly perplexed by the gesture but made no move to protest.

“You’ve never…lost anyone before,” she said. “Have you? Not a real friend?”

“I’ve lost LOTS of friends!” The Collector retorted. “They all BETRAY me! ALL OF THEM!”

“But you…” Eda said “You cared for King, didn’t you.”

The Collector didn’t reply immediately, but the sad little hiccupping sound they made was all the confirmation that Eda needed.

She looked back out at the open area that was now dominated by a tree that resembled a fortress, and a glacier stretching up the hill and out of sight.

“I guess you aren’t the only kid reshaping the Isles, huh,” she said. 

At least Luz was safe. 

This was all such a mess.

There was a soft hooting and Owlbert appeared, swooping in on silent wings and proclaiming a warning.

“Coming this way?” she asked. “Who’s…” 

But then she saw.

“Aw crap.”

Eberwolf was leading a small faction of the resistance, consisting of Darius, Raine, Lilith and Adrian, and they were heading in her direction.

Eda didn’t have it in her for more confrontation today.

Darius was gripping the mirror disc, face set in an expression of firm resolve. The Collector, seeing this, started to hyperventilate and Eda was afraid they might just bolt on her and flee into the woods.

She couldn’t lose them. Not now. 

“Owlbert…” she began, but her palisman was way ahead of her, already manifesting their staff.

“Kid,” Eda said, straddling it and leaving room in front of her for a passenger. “Collector, come on. We need to get you somewhere safe until your magic comes back.”

To her relief, The Collector didn’t hesitate, and climbed on ahead of her, eyeing Owlbert with interest.

“Now hold tight,” Eda said, bracing her arm around them as best she could while still holding on. “You don’t have any magic right now and this whole one-hand business means I can’t catch you if you fall.”

The Collector nodded.

“Okay,” they said.

“Gun it, Owlbert!” Eda said, as Eberwolf was almost at the forest’s edge. “But keep it below the radar.”

“Oh for the love of…” Darius began as Eda and The Collector zipped off into the thick and tangled woods. “What is she doing?”

Eberwolf sniffed the air and turned back with a shrug. Even the best tracker on the Boiling Isles (which Eberwolf very much was) would have difficulty following a witch on a staff who was flying very fast and leaving no tracks.

Lilith took to the sky on her own staff, scanning out across the treetops but unable to see below the canopy.

“Oh whyyyyyy does this have to be so complicated,” Raine said, pressing a hand to their face. 

“Do we let her go?” Darius asked. “We’re not going to get another chance when The Collector’s powers come back. They’re onto us and I very much doubt they’ll allow for our continued existence.”

“Eda…” Raine said worriedly. “Is a force of chaos herself and…weirdly good with kids for some reason. What if there’s really a chance…”

“Are you,” Darius asked seriously. “Willing to stake the entire Boiling Isles on it? The lives of every single witch and demon living here? Because it’s not just our lives at stake, remember.”

Raine didn’t answer.

They desperately wanted to say ‘Yes!’ 

They wanted to say that they did trust Eda’s abilities above all else. But…could they really…?

“I’m not disagreeing with you,” Darius continued. “But you know as well as I do what’s at stake.”

“And if I may,” Adrian said huffily. “I know that you are all convinced that this little Collector is genuinely an eternal child or whatever. But . On the off chance that my analysis is correct, and they are a trickster god in the guise of a cute and seemingly-innocent child, it would make sense that they’ve targeted and appealed to the mother figure among us who apparently can’t resist adopting and protecting every single arbitrary child that crosses her path.”

“I…” Raine said.

“And,” Adrian continued before they could say anything further. “If that is indeed the case, then the Owl Lady is in grave danger right now.”

“You’re really trying to manipulate me now, Adrian?” Raine said. “We’re not in the Coven anymore. What did you do to anger The Collector so much that you’re this scared shitless of them.”

“What did I do? The same as anyone else did. Tried to stay in a state compatible with life! If you aren’t scared shitless of The Collector, then you are a fool!”

“Any sign of them?” Darius shouted up at Lilith.

“No, nothing!” Lilith shouted back, face pinched with worry as she hovered in place. “The vegetation is too thick to see anything if they’re keeping to the forest. But I think…I think I know where Eda might be headed.”

***

“Hey, kid?”

“What’sat?” The Collector asked, turning their head slightly from where they’d been focused on the dizzying route that Owlbert was taking through some of the thickest parts of the forest.

“So, uh…” Eda said, trying to quell the grief that was still trying to overtake her. “Do you have a name other than The Collector?”

“Whatcha’ mean?”

“Well, The Collector just seems more like a title than a name.”

“Yeah. They just called me that.”

“But it’s not your name?” Eda pressed on.

“Nope,” The Collector said. “I got a real name, though.”

“Can…can you tell me?”

The Collector leaned into Eda’s arm, but was uncharacteristically quiet. 

“You don’t have to tell me yet, if you don’t want to,” Eda said. “I’m just curious.”

There was more silence, punctuated by what sounded almost like a low, quiet laugh.

“Maybe you could tell me why they call you The Collector, then?” Eda asked. “What do you collect?”

For a moment, it seemed like she wasn’t going to get an answer for this, either, but then The Collector spoke in a surprisingly small voice, as if crawling out of whatever headspace they had retreated into took tremendous effort.

“Assets,” they said. “A long time ago.”

“So…not, like, stamps? Or rocks?”

“Don’t…’member,” The Collector muttered.

Owlbert hooted, expertly dodging trees and brush with Eda’s guidance, keeping his passengers well-hidden as he flew unusually close to the ground.

It was much slower than flying directly through the sky would be, but they couldn’t risk being seen.

Eda had gotten better at learning how to balance and fly one-handed, but she was starting to feel some fairly significant soreness from using her muscles just a bit differently. Her arm was definitely cramping up, but she didn’t dare move or readjust since The Collector was leaning on it so heavily now.

“How’s your magic situation?” Eda inquired. “Getting any better?”

“Ugh. Not yet.”

“Well, it probably takes a while.”

“I…I put the last I had left into King. I tried to fix him. I tried so hard to fix him.”

“I know, Collector,” Eda said heavily. “I know you did.”

***

At the base of the huge glacier, an extremely woozy but stable Vee watched as Camila looked up at Luz from where she was taking King’s vitals.

“You’re right, Luz,” she said. “He does still have a pulse. It’s very faint, though, and he’s lost a lot of blood. So we need to work fast. Whatever The Collector did must have preserved internal organ function. I’m pretty sure he’s got a few broken bones but this amount of trauma should have done a lot worse damage.”

“I can help,” Vee began.

“You can help by resting,” Camila told her firmly. 

“What can I do?” Luz asked.

“Get me the clippers and my suture pack. And some flush. And maybe…oh I don’t know what injectables would be SAFE for him. I don’t even know his anatomy!”

“I do!” Gus said, hurrying to Camila’s side. “I once made a working model of Titan anatomy all on my own because my project partner dipped out.”

“I know healing,” Emira said, appearing at Gus’ side.

“And I know beast-keeping,” Edric added, from the other side.

Camila handed Emira a tube of sterile gel and Edric a battery-operated clipper.

“Okay, you two can start by shaving around the wounds. Put the gel in those superficial ones so they don’t get full of fur. I’m going to try to get him intubated, and I need someone to give him some breaths once he’s hooked up to oxygen. I assume he breathes oxygen…?”

“I’ll do it,” Luz volunteered.

“Okay,” Camila said. “Gus. Now I need your Titan anatomy lessons.”

“We got you, King,” Luz whispered, although she hardly dared believe the words herself. “You’re gonna’ make it.”

***

Flying so fast, so low to the ground, was taxing, even for a palisman, and Owlbert was weary by the time he arrived with Eda and The Collector at their destination.

“Thanks, Owlbert,” Eda said, her voice sounding almost hollow. “I couldn’t have made it here without you.”

Owlbert trilled tiredly, returning to a still, wooden form.

The Collector dismounted as soon as their feet touched the ground. It wasn’t a particularly graceful maneuver, but they managed, sticking close to Eda as she gently set down her staff.

“This is the Looking Glass Graveyard,” Eda said. “I know it sounds morbid, but hardly anybody knows about this place and the groundskeeper is at Hexside right now, so there won’t be anyone around. You’ll be safe and you can rest here while you charge back up. Plus, the galderstones might give you a boost.”

Eda flexed her arm, working out the cramps and wishing she’d thought to bring some sort of food. Not that she’d expected to go on the run today, but they might be here for some time, depending on how long the whole “charging up” process actually took.

And then…what…?

Thinking about the future stung Eda’s mind like a hundred fire bees, because thinking about the future meant remembering the fact that it didn’t include King.

She couldn’t even begin to process that reality without wanting to scream and fling herself against the stone markers around the graveyard.

King hadn’t even wanted to go through with this stupid plan.

It had been obvious to Eda that he wished there were another option almost as much as she did, but felt pressured by the expectations of those around him, and the idea that this was the only way.

Eda should have just said no, he wasn’t going to do this. He might have been a Titan, but he was still just a kid.

Just a kid…

Eda should have just stayed with The Collector at the Owl House and never let Kikimora or anyone else get to them.

But she hadn’t.

And King had payed the price for it.

She watched, unfocused as The Collector climbed up the nearest stone statue marker and reached for the galderstone, only to have it ripple like water and their fingers pass through it.

With how deep Eda was into her own thoughts, it almost didn’t register what she was seeing, but it hit her just as The Collector pulled their hand away, wearing an expression of confusion.

“Wait,” Eda said. “Get down from there right now. Don’t touch that stone.”

Something wasn’t right.

The Collector looked alarmed, but it wasn’t clear if they were coming to the same conclusion, or if they were just reacting to the sudden sharpness of Eda’s voice.

“Just…come back over here for a second,” Eda said, trying to keep her voice steady. “Don’t touch those galderstones.”

This had been a mistake.

This had been a huge mistake.

To her relief, The Collector dropped down from the statue and hurried back towards her.

“What’s the matter?” they asked.

“We gotta’ go,” Eda said, reaching for their hand, which they pulled away.

“What? But we just got here.”

There was the sound of Adrian swearing and then the whole illusion fell, revealing him alongside Darius, Eberwolf, Raine and Lilith standing just a few feet away, the mirror disc strategically set up on the statue where the illusion of the galderstone had been.

The actual galderstones themselves had been placed in a pile away from the statues.

“Ugh,” Darius said, running a hand over his face. “Great job, Owl Lady. I obviously wanted to make this more difficult for everybody.”

The Collector looked up at Eda with a sharp intake of breath at Darius’ words. The sarcasm was clearly lost on them and their face was the picture of shock and betrayal.

“Whatnow!?” they cried.

“It’s not…” Eda began hurriedly, trying to set things right.

She reached for The Collector, intending to keep them close while she sorted this out, but they darted out of reach, still glaring at her with a heartbreaking, hurt expression.”

“You…” they managed. “You LIED to me AGAIN! You took King from me! Why do you all DO this to me?!?”

“I didn’t!” Eda cried, starting towards The Collector, but only causing them to retreat more. “I didn’t know the others would be here, I swear!”

“LIAR! I HEARD what the Head Witch said, you dummy!”

“Really now,” Adrian said, jumping lithely down from the statue, having climbed it to retrieve the disc. “This has gone on long enough and taken years off my own creativity. Let’s get this over with.”

He stalked towards The Collector, who shrank back but realized that doing so was putting them back in reach of Eda.

“Vernworth, stop!” Eda said sharply. “You’re freaking them out. Collector, come here. Now.”

She pointed at the empty patch of ground beside her.

The Collector looked from her to the still-advancing Adrain, and then took off at a run.

Everyone scrambled after them as they ran aimlessly and panicked through the graveyard, dodging between tangled plants and statues.

“Not so fun when you’re not it, is it?” Adrian said, making an athletic leap and catching them.

The Collector screamed and wiggled free, but was now in a full-on blind panic.

“You’re SCARING them!” Eda shouted, trying to intercept them, but only causing them to change course and veer towards Darius and Raine.

“For Titan’s sake, Adrian,” Darius said as The Collector skidded to a stop in front of them. “The plan wasn’t to terrorize this poor kid.”

“You’re still not listening to what I’ve been telling you,” Adrian said. “They’re just trying to appeal to your weakness because they know they’re cornered and powerless. They stall long enough, their power comes back, and they squash us all into glop.”

The Collector froze, turning to try to run, but finding themself surrounded with nowhere to go.

“Don’t send me back,” they whimpered.

“And now,” Adrian said. “This is the part where the all-powerful chaos demon begs for mercy because they’ve lost, and we see that, beneath the facade, they are but a coward.”

“Adrian!” Raine said. “Shut the FUCK up!”

“This isn’t one of your plays!” Eda snapped. 

The Collector wrapped their arms around themself and shrank down, shaking and muttering that they didn’t want to go back over and over and over.

Adrian walked forward and kicked them.

“ADRIAN!” 

The Collector gasped in pain, Eda threw a punch at Adrian, Eberwolf tried to intervene and Darius restrained Adrian while Lilith did the same to Eda.

The Collector lay on the ground, in danger of being trampled. They reached out towards the pile of galderstones a short distance away.

“Stop FIGHTING!” Lilith was shouting. “You’re all acting worse than children!”

One of the stones flew from the pile and into The Collector’s waiting hands.

It took everyone a moment to realize exactly what had just happened, and what it meant.

“Their…powers are returning…” Raine said slowly.

Eberwolf yelped and pointed at the galderstone that The Collector was holding to their chest.

Lilith reached for the stone, but The Collector’s eyes flashed and she was flung backwards.

She hit the ground hard, but fortunately nowhere near as hard as she might have if the The Collector were at even a fraction of their full power.

“We’re out of time, Edalyn!” she cried.

“If their power comes back, we’re all dead!” Darius agreed.

The Collector jumped to their feet and sprinted at the pile of galderstones, and Darius made his move, grabbing the mirror from Adrian and diving in front of them.

They collided hard and The Collector’s momentum threw Darius off-balance.

There was a flash of light and The Collector froze, realizing that their outstretched hand was splayed across the surface of the mirror disc.

They pulled their arm back like they’d been burned and stared at their hand in horror.

“Darius!” Eda shouted. “Collector!”

At first she thought it wouldn’t work, that the spell couldn’t be activated without a Titan, but then she was hit by the same realization that was occurring to The Collector.

Their hands were still covered in dried blood.

King’s blood.

Titan’s blood.

The disc glowed with a bright blue-white light.

The Collector bolted, making it only a few feet before the light caught them, tripping them up as it swirled around their feet.

“NO!” they screamed. “Nonononono! NO! Not again! I don’t WANT to go back!”

They looked imploringly at Darius, who was backing away slowly.

“HELP!” they screamed at him reaching out a hand. “HELP ME!”

“I hate this,” Darius muttered, looking away.

“NO! COME BACK!”

The Collector scrabbled at the ground as the light swam up their legs and formed a vortex back into the mirror.

“NO! STOP!”

They clawed at empty air.

Only it wasn’t empty.

Their hand was caught by another, which wrapped around theirs firmly and tightly.

“I gotcha’, kid,” Eda said. “You’re okay. It’s gonna’ be okay. I got you.”

Her voice was steady, calm. At odds with the fear in her eyes.

The Collector’s other hand found hers as well, fingernails digging in.

“DON’T LET GO! DON’T LET GO!” they begged, holding on and fighting with everything they had to pull free of the light that was now threatening to engulf their torso. “I DON’T WANT TO GO BACK! HELP ME! SAVE ME! I DON’T WANNA’ BE ALONE AGAIN!”

“Not. Letting. Go,” Eda said, her grip strong as the pulled against the force that was drawing the Collector back towards the mirror. “Don’t you let go either.”

As if there were a chance of that. The Collector’s fingernails were digging into her hand so hard now that they were drawing blood.

Their eyes met hers, wide, glowing, terrified.

“Don’t let me go! Don’t let me go back there!”

Eda planted her feet and leaned back, really wishing she had use of both of her arms as she pulled with all of her might and still made no progress.

She swore as her feet were dragged forward, heels leaving ruts in the dirt and leaf litter.

The Collector let out a frightened sob.

“I don’t wanna’ go back there, I hate it there! I DON’T WANNA’ BE ALONE! YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T LEAVE ME ALONE AGAIN! YOU PROMISED! YOU PROMISED!”

“I’m. Trying,” Eda said, making one more attempt to pull The Collector free of the force of the light.

“IT’S NOT WORKING!” The Collector screamed as the pull from the mirror only increased.

Eda swore as she and The Collector both slid closer to the source of the vortex.

The Collector’s grip slipped just enough for them to leave deep scratches in Eda’s hand as they fought to maintain their grip.

“No,” they whimpered. “No, no, no. Stop. MAKE IT STOP.”

In an instant, Eda made a decision.

“Alright kid,” she said. “New plan. I promised I wasn’t going to leave you alone again, so I’m not going to. I’m coming with you.”

“What?” The Collector asked, no longer able to do anything but hold onto her. “What?”

“This spell is too strong. I can’t pull you free of it, but I’m not going to leave you, either. I’m going with you into that mirror, okay.”

“You…You’re what? You are?”

“Just hang on. It’s gonna’ be okay.”

Eda wanted to readjust her grip, but didn’t dare for fear of losing it altogether.

The force of the vortex was stronger than ever but this time Eda wasn’t going to fight it.

She allowed it to pull The Collector in, and herself along with them, letting the now-blinding light engulf them both.

The Collector screamed.

For a moment, Eda felt weightless, surrounded by the brightness.

The Collector’s grip on her hand was fierce.

She felt an odd swooping sensation as if she were falling fast from a great height, and then…

Her hand collided with a hard, cold surface and she felt The Collector’s grip slip once again, further gashing her flesh.

“NO!”

Eda’s hand had stopped short at the surface of the mirror and it was apparent that, for her, it was solid and impenetrable. 

Of course. There was a fail-safe in place, so the wrong target wouldn’t be imprisoned.

“DON’T LEAVE ME!” The Collector screamed, their voice distant and echoing, as they were already on the other side, save for their hands, which held Eda’s tight against the surface of the mirror. “DON’T LEAVE ME! I DON’T WANNA’ BE ALONE! YOU PROMISED!”

Eda couldn’t do anything, couldn’t pass through the mirror, couldn’t pull The Collector back through, couldn’t (wouldn’t) let go.

Suddenly The Collector’s hands flickered from solid to grey shadows that slipped from her like mist, vanishing into the mirror.

“NO!”

The light swirled back into the disc as well, leaving Eda staring at her own distraught reflection, eyes trying to adjust to the darkness of the graveyard.

Behind her, there was yelling.

“Now, Raine! NOW!”

“I…I can’t.”

“RAINE!”

“Not like this.”

“You HAVE to!”

“Not like this!”

Eda stared at her hand, now covered in deep, bleeding scratches. She could still feel the ghost of warm pressure where The Collector had been clinging to her.

Whole arm shaking, she picked up the disc. It was surprisingly heavy.

“DO IT, RAINE!” came the shouting from behind. “IT’S THE ONLY WAY!”

Eda opened her mouth to tell Raine please no, don’t do this.

“THIS IS THE SACRIFICE WE HAVE TO MAKE FOR EVERYONE ON THE ISLES! DO IT! DO IT NOW!”

Eda’s strength was gone. She could barely hold the mirror.

And then there came a haunting, whistling note, a piercing tone from behind her.

The mirror shattered in Eda’s hands.

It did not break into shards, but rather disintegrated into vaguely luminous sand that poured through her fingers into a soft pile on the ground below.

And that was it.

Eda was left standing above a small pile of sand, a deafening silence around her that might as well have stretched out to the furthest reaches of the world.

Slowly, she turned around to face the stares of her companions.

No one spoke a word.

No one even knew what to say.

Raine had a hand across their mouth, wearing a horrified look. They quickly averted their eyes when Eda tried to meet them.

There was so much that could be said, but even more that couldn’t be, or didn’t need to be.

Then, without uttering a word, Eda turned and walked away, boots crunching softly as she left the Looking Glass Graveyard.

Darius’ knees hit the ground and he buried his face in his hands.

Eberwolf began to cry, almost uncontrollably.

Raine, hand still over their mouth, sat down hard.

Adrian stared expressionlessly at the pile of sand.

They had won.

It didn’t feel like winning.

“What,” Lilith said, her voice breaking. “Have we done?”

***

There was stunned silence at the kitchen table.

“That,” Luz said. “Was so much worse than I imagined.”

“It was almost midnight by the time Alador found me,” Eda said. “And told me that you were alive, King.”

“I…” King said, almost at a loss for words. “And you never told me any of this?”

“Or me,” Luz said. “I had to put it together from context clues.”

“Everyone was already back at Hexside by the time I got there,” Eda said. “I…I didn’t know how much they told you.”

“Just that The Collector was defeated and trapped again, and that the mirror was pulverized,” Luz said. “They were super weird about it and said not to ask for details. Darius said it was really important to be gentle to you, Eda. I never really understood what that was about until now.”

“Decisions were made,” Eda said. “Maybe not the best ones, but I'm not holding onto any ill feelings towards anyone but Adrian. The others…they were trying to save the world just like the rest of us. There aren’t any heroes or winners in a situation like that.”

“Oh man,” Luz said. “This is kind of my fault, huh.”

“What?” Eda said. “How in the world is this on you?”

“Trapping The Collector back in the mirror was my idea.”

“Your idea?” King said. “That was my idea too. We share the blame on this one.”

“Look,” Eda said. “Things happened they way they happened, and there’s no use getting all bogged down in hypotheticals. What matters is what we do next.”

She looked over at the window.

“So,” King said, following her gaze to the jar of sand on the windowsill. “That’s…”

“That’s what’s left of The Collector’s mirror. It took a while to get hold of it, but naturally it’s not something a bunch of paranoid Coven Heads would want left lying on the ground. They had it locked up in storage.”

“Won’t somebody notice it’s missing?” Luz asked.

“They haven’t yet,” Eda snorted. “I doubt anyone’s paying that close attention. After all, who’d be crazy enough to try and re-forge the mirror and re-establish contact with The Collector.”

“I should have known,” Luz said. “From the moment you asked me to get you a glass-making book.”

“You’re going to fix the mirror,” King said. “Aren’t you?”

“I should have told you sooner, King,” Eda said. “I just wasn’t sure how to, or how you’d take it.”

“I’m not sure how I’m taking it, either,” King admitted.

“That’s a valid reaction,” Luz told him.

“If we can recreate the mirror from the remains,” Eda said. “The Collector should be able to project themself through without danger of them harming any of us.”

“So…” King said. “You’re not planning on actually letting them out?”

“Darius was pretty adamant about that,” Luz said. “If his whole super-not-cryptic ‘don’t let the instrument out of the case’ speech was anything to go by. So my guess is, The Collector will be out of the mirror within the week.”

Eda laughed.

“Well,” she said. “We’ve…got to establish some ground rules first. I doubt The Collector trusts me at all anymore, if they ever really did. And I don’t trust them not to turn us all into exploding confetti the moment they get free.

“No, this is a compromise. It’s the safest way to get them some social contact beyond their prison and ensure all of our safety while we try to build some sort of connection and trust - if that’s even possible.”

“You obviously think it is,” Luz said.

“I hope it is, Luz. Right now all I can think about is the fact that this poor kid is in two-dimensional solitary confinement with no hope of escape. And they still think you’re dead, King.”

“Ouch,” King said. “I'm not sure how much I want to have to do with this twerp, Eda, but I never wanted to hurt them.”

“The re-forging spell we’ve been working on,” Eda said. “Should be performed tomorrow night under the waxing crescent moon. Uhhhh, sorry for the short notice, King.”

“That soon, huh?” King said.

“Like I said, should have told you sooner.”

“Yeah, no kidding. But…for what it’s worth, I think you’re doing the right thing.”

“Well!” Luz said, a bit too brightly, seeing the look on Eda’s face. “We all obviously have a lot to think about, and it’s getting late. We’re going to need allllll our wits about us tomorrow, so I say we call it a night.”

“Ah, you’re probably right,” Eda said heavily.

She hugged Luz and King in turn, relieved that the full truth was finally out there, but not sure if it entirely made her feel better.

“Good night you weird little dorks,” she said fondly.

They hurried off, leaving Eda to linger for a few more moments in the candlelit kitchen.

Before heading to bed herself, she placed her hand atop the jar in the window.

“Hang in there, kid,” she whispered. “We’re coming for you."

Chapter Text

The early morning sounds of Bonesborough were returning, even if the landscape itself had changed dramatically and the constellations fading with the dawn were all rearranged and unfamiliar.

Eda sat on the edge of the chasm where the grudgby field had once been, legs swinging out into empty space as she watched the sky brighten and the horizon begin to glow with color.

Behind her, she heard the crunch of familiar footsteps approaching.

“You’re up early, Eda.”

“I didn’t sleep,” Eda replied simply.

Raine sighed.

“I know I hurt you,” they said. “Again. And I understand if you don’t want to see me anymore. But I thought you should know that King is starting to come around.”

“He’s awake?” Eda turned quickly to look at Raine, but they still wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“He’s not awake -awake, but he’s responding to things. Camila says that it might be some weeks before he fully recovers.”

“Well that’s better than I could have hoped for,” Eda said, looking back to face the sunrise.

Raine turned to leave.

“Raine, wait,” Eda said, stopping them in their tracks.

“Eda…”

“I don’t want to lose you too.”

Raine took a step closer to the edge and stood beside Eda, looking down at the dizzying drop before them.

“I…don’t want to lose you again, either,” they admitted. “Before the Day Of Unity, I even thought that if we managed to win against Belos, then maybe…” their voice trailed off. “It doesn’t matter. I still betrayed you in a way. And I know it doesn’t make up for it, but I am sorry.”

“Well I can’t say I’m not hurt,” Eda said. “And I’m trying not to think about what happened to that poor kid. But I understand why you did it. I…I don’t resent you for it, Raine. You were trying to save the whole demon realm.”

“This whole heroism business?” Raine said, making a face. “It flat-out sucks. The things I’ve had to do, the things I know that Darius had to do before we were allies? I’m tired of being the hero, Eda. I want to be something else now.”

Ordinarily, Eda would have made some comment asking if this meant Raine was considering a career in villainy but, this particular morning, she was just too tired.

“Do you know what you’re going to do?” she asked instead.

Raine shook their head.

“I haven’t thought much beyond breakfast.”

“Well,” Eda said, pushing herself backwards away from the pit and scrambling up, only to find Raine already helping her. “I’m going to go see King again, right now. But when he’s good to go home, I’m planning to go back to the Owl House. If…” 

It was Eda’s turn to look away, unable to stop the flush of color she knew was rising on her cheeks.

“If you need somewhere to stay,” she went on. “I…I’m sure I…we could use a bit of extra help getting the place livable again. 

Eda felt a warm hand follow the flush, Raine’s thumb brushing against her cheek as they gently turned her face towards them.

“Are you asking what I think you are?”

“I…” Eda said, hardly daring to breathe. “I wanna’ try again, Rainestorm. If you do.”

“Well, in that case,” Raine said with a surprisingly shy smile. “Can I, uh…?”

“Raine, it’s been a hellacious few weeks, and I’m tired of thinking. If you wanna’ kiss me, then shut up and do it already.”

***

The light of a different morning awoke Eda, and she blinked blearily, her focus falling on the stained glass windows as she tried to collect her thoughts and feelings, and remember what was happening in the present.

“Back in the waking world at last,” Raine said from beside her in the nest. “Took you long enough, this being the big day and all.”

The big day…

It had been nearly two months since The Collector had been locked away, slightly less than that since Eda’s return to the Owl House with King, Luz, Hunter, Hooty and Raine. Even less since Raine had approached Eda to directly address what had been so long unspoken, and ask to stay at the Owl House in a more permanent capacity.

And this, if things went according to plan, was the last morning that The Collector would be sealed away from the inhabitants of the house.

Eda wasn’t sure exactly what time it was, but she knew it was unusual for Raine to sleep in this late. Most days, they were up and about long before Eda - a holdover habit from their years of working for the Emperor.

“You manage to sleep off all that Coven Head nonsense from yesterday?” Eda asked.

“Agh, don’t remind me,” Raine said. “I was ready to quit . Trying to make any headway with the likes of Terra and Adrian feels like beating my head against a wall. We aren’t making any progress with anything.”

“Yeah, you were a real grump yesterday.”

“I felt like a grump,” Raine said with a chuckle. “Thanks for putting up with me.”

“Hey, it’s the least I can do. You put up with me every day.”

“Putting up with you is the highlight of my day.”

“Aw, stop.”

They both laughed and Eda yawned and stretched, not feeling particularly glamorous as she sat up, but feeling very glad that Raine was there with her.

This was the big day, and she wasn’t sure if the twinge she was feeling in her stomach was from excitement or anxiety.

Maybe she just needed to eat something. That’s what King would say.

Eda and Raine made their way downstairs together and, by the sounds emanating from the living room, Luz, King and Hooty were already up.

“Did Luz cover everything in ice glyphs or something?’ Eda said, shivering and wrapping her pink shirt closer. “It’s freezing down here.”

The chill, it turned out, was coming from Luz’s portal door, which was wide open in the middle of the living room, letting in the thin and almost-sickly-looking light of yet another sunrise. The human realm sun fell upon Hooty, who was wrapped around Luz and King as they all snuggled under several heavy blankets.